LIBRARY 

Theological     Seminary, 

PRINCETON,     N.    J. 

'    BX    9941     .F67    1846 

Forbes,    Darius. 
'    The   Universalist' s    assistant;..,, 

i 

-J 


^J^i>^  VJt^^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/universalistsassOOforb 


THE 


UNIVERSALIST'S  ASSISTANT 


AN  EXAMINATION 


THE  PRINCIPAL  OBJECTIONS  COMMONLY  LTIGED  AGAINST 
UNIV^ERSALTSM. 


He  that  is  first  in  his  own  cause  seemeth  just ; 

But  his  neififhbor  cometh  and  searchelh  hinn.— Prov. 


DARIUS    FORBES 


SECOND    EDITION 


BOSTON: 

ABEL    TOMPKINS;    38, 

AND 

B  .    B  .    M  U  S  S  E  Y  ,    2  9    C  o  rx  n  h  i  l  l 
1846. 


Entered  according  to  Act  (»l  Congress,  in  the  year  1846,  by 

DARIUS     FORBES, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


S  t  e  r  c  o  t  y  p  c  il     hy 
'      GEORGE     A.    CURTIS; 

NEW  ENGLAND  TYPE  AND  STEREOTYPE  FOUNDRY. 

BOSTON. 


THIS    VOLUME 

IS    RESPF.CTFULIA'    INSCRIBED    TO 

REV.    HOSEA    BALLOU,    2d,    D.D. 

AND    TO 

REV.    EDWIN    H.    OHAPIN,    A.M., 

As  a  token  of  the  respect  and  esteem  the  Author  cherishes 
for  these  men — the  one  as  a  diligent  and  persevering  Theo- 
logical Student,  and  the  other  as  a  General  Scholar  and  an 
Eloquent  Preacher — whose  labors  and  influence  have  done 
so  much  to  secure  the  attention  and  respect  of  other  sects 
to  the  Universalist  Denomination  in  the  United  States,  and 
to  encourage  a  manly  independence  in  its  ministry  in  form- 
ing and  expressing  their  opinions,  and  to  promote  Theo- 
logical Science  among  its  members,  and  elevate  the  tone 
and  spirit  of  its  pulpit ;  and  as  personal  friends,  and  Chris- 
tian men,  and  lovers  of  truth  and  righteousness;. 


"  It  is  not  an  unusual  occurrence,  when  any  new  view 
of  a  theolog-ical  or  scriptural  subject  is  broached,  to  array 
against  it  a  host  of  objections,  and  to  insist  upon  the 
formidable  difficulties  with  which  it  is  encumbered,  as  if 
the  old  view  were  free  from  all  exceptions,  and  stood 
forth  in  self-evident  truth  ;  while,  in  fact,  it  was  the  diffi- 
culties attendant  upon  popular  belief,  which  o-ave  rise  to 

the  innovation." 

Bush. 


PREFACE 


This  volume  is  rather  unique  in  its  character  ;  and  the  author 
feels  great  diffidence  in  presenting  it  to  the  public.  But  it  has 
long:  seemed  to  him  that  something  of  the  kind  was  needed. 
Tracts  have  been  and  now  are  circulated  all  through  the  com- 
munity, presenting  an  array  of  objections  against  Universalismj 
while  there  has  been  no  one  book,  which  could  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  those  whose  minds  are  attempted  to  be  influenced  by 
these  little  books,  in  which  their  objections  are  answered  iu 
detail.  Answers  to  very  many  of  them  are  scattered  through  the 
various  newspapers  and  books  that  have  been  published  by  the 
believers  of  this  doctrine  ;  but  they  are  not  available  to  the  great 
mass  of  readers. 

Were  any  apologj-  needed  for  the  peculiar  character  of  this 
work,  or  the  form  in  which  its  materials  are  presented,  it  would 
be  the  manifest  advantages  secured  by  it.  In  arranging  the 
matter  in  the  form  of  answers  to  objections,  an  opportunity  is 
afforded  to  emlirace  a  much  wider  range  of  topics  in  the  same 
space,  and  make  the  materials  directly  available  where  wanted, 
to  an  extent  which  could  not  be  secured  by  a  formal  treatise  upon 
the  several  subjects  which  come  under  review.  This  form, 
therefore,  seems  better  adapted  to  answer  the  great  end  for 
which  it  is  designed,  than  any  other  that  presented  itself  to  the 
author's  mind. 

The  author's  attention  was  first  called  to  the  want  of  some 
book  of  this  kind,  about  ten  years  since,  by  the  circulation  of 
great  numbers  of  tracts,  devoted  to  the  exhibition  of  objections 
against  Universalism,  among  the  members  of  his  congregation. 
At  the  request  of  snsne  ofhis  hoarors.  he  prepared  a  series  of  dis- 
1# 


VI  PREFACE. 

courses,  embracing  ihe  topics  now  included  in  the  second  chapter 
of  this  work.  Since  that  time,  he  has  directed  a  very  consider- 
able portion  of  his  studies  to  the  topics  therein  embraced,  and 
the  investigation  of  collateral  subjects,  enlarging  his  range  of 
inquiry  to  all  the  matters  embraced  in  this  volume.  And 
believing  that  the  results  of  these  inquiries  and  investigations 
may  be  of  some  service  to  the  cause  of  religious  truth,  and  with 
the  advice  of  some  friends,  in  whose  judgment  he  has  great 
confider.ce,  he  has  concluded  to  present  them  to  the  public. 

In  the  execution  of  his  work,  the  author  has  aimed  to  present 
ihe  several  topics  discussed,  in  as  condensed  and  popular  a 
manner  as  possible  ;  to  come  direct  to  the  subject  in  hand,  with- 
out amplifying  the  arguments,  or  introducing  illustrations,  except 
in  a  few  cases  ;  trusting  to  the  good  sense  of  the  reader  to 
supply  these,  and  his  judgment  and  perception  to  get  at  the 
meaning,  without  their  aid,  from  a  plain  and  unequivocal  state- 
ment of  facts,  and  the  use  of  the  most  simple  and  unambiguous 
language. 

All  reflections  upon  the  want  of  candor  and  fairness  on  the 
part  of  the  authors,  whose  v/orks  have  furnished  the  objections 
noticed,  have  been  avoided,  although  abundant  occasion  has 
been  presented  for  comments  of  this  kind.  In  numerous 
instances,  the  conviction  has  been  most  painfully  forced  upon 
the  author's  mind,  that  most  of  them  were  sadly  wanting  in 
honesty  and  integrity,  in  many  of  tlieir  statements,  as  well  as  in 
candor  and  iairness  in  argument.  It  seems  us  if  very  many 
things  were  said  in  a  spirit  of  the  most  reckless  malice,  and  with 
an  entire  destitution  of  all  feeling  of  accountability  for  what 
they  were  writing.  Ikit  all  this  has  been  passed  over  in  silence, 
because  thoughts  and  reflections  of  this  kind,  especially  in  rela- 
tion to  men  claiming  to  write  ibr  the  good  of  human  souls,  are 
extremely  unpleasant  and  painful  to  an  honest,  ingenuous,  and 
fair  mind ;  and  it  is  no  iTratiflcation  to  it,  to  comment  upon 
them.  Beside,  reflections  upon  the  characters  and  doings  of 
opponents,  afford  no  good  or  satisfactory  answer  to  the  arguments 
they  may  adduce.  These  stand  or  fall  upon  their  own  merits. 
It  htis  been  the  single  object,  thrroforo,  to  meet  the  objections 


Vll 


urged,  in  the  spirit  of  candor  and  fairness  ;  with  how  much  suc- 
cess, others  must  judge. 

The  most  difficult  part  of  this  work,  in  execution,  has  been 
the  discussion  of  the  several  Hebrew  and  Greek  words,  which 
have  been  urged  as  objections  against  Universalism.  It  has 
been  the  aim  to  present  the  matter  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  intelli- 
gible to  the  mere  English  reader,  and  in  so  popular  a  form, 
that  he  can  perceive  somewhat  of  the  state  of  things,  in  relation 
to  these  words,  as  it  is  exhibited  to  the  minds  of  scholars.  To 
gain  this  end,  the  text  has  been  kept  as  free  from  these  terms  as 
possible,  and  some  unusual  expedients  adopted  ;  Avhile  notes 
have  been  pretty  freely  introduced,  to  put  scholars  upon  the 
track  which  has  led  to  the  conclusions  stated  in  the  text.  In 
this  way,  it  is  hoped,  the  book  may  be  rendered  of  some  service, 
in  this  department,  to  both  classes  of  readers. 

In  the  department  of  this  work  to  which  allusion  is  now  had, 
it  is  not  expected,  that  anything  particularly  new,  to  those  who 
have  looked  into  the  subject,  has  been  presented.  Still,  it  is 
believed  that  much  is  presented,  which  may  be  new  to  the  great 
mass  of  readers,  or  if  nothing  new  is  presented,  it  is  hoped,  at 
least,  that  old  and  familiar  things  are  presented  in  a  new  and 
more  striking  light. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  quotations  and  references,  all  state- 
ments in  relation  to  the  usage  of  Greek  words,  and  facts  con- 
cerning them,  froui  sources  aside  from  the  Scriptures  themselves, 
have  been  derived  from  others.  Reliance  is  placed  entirely  upon 
their  accuracy  and  fidelity,  as  the  author  has  not  the  means  of 
verifying  their  statements,  by  an  appeal  to  their  authorities,  if 
he  has  the  requisite  learning  and  ability.  Eut  such  is  the  well 
established  reputation  of  these  authors,  that  there  is  no  room  to 
question  either  their  accuracy  or  their  fidelity.  Still,  in  all  cases, 
when  in  his  power,  the  author  has  preferred  to  see  with  his  own 
eyes,  and  thus  knov.-  whereof  he  affirms. 

The  first  person  singular  has  been  adopted  throughout  this 
work,  to  avoid  seeming  to  speak  in  behalf  of  olliers,  or  to  refer 
responsibility  for  the  sentiments  and  facts  presented,  to  others 
beside  ihe  author.     And  ho  here  wishes  to  sav.  that  he  claims 


Vm  PREFACE. 

lo  speak  only  for  himself,  not  for  any  sect  or  body  of  men.  He 
aloue  wishes  to  be  held  responsible  for  whatever  is  herein  writ- 
ten, that  the  reader  may  deem  untrue  or  in  any  degree  excep- 
tionable. All  that  this  book  contains  is  the  free  expression  of 
the  free  thoughts  of  one  Avho  desires  and  claims  to  belong  to  the 
community  of  free  minds  ;  of  diligent  inquirers  after  truth,  who 
would  see  with  their  own  eyes,  hear  Avith  their  own  ears,  think 
with  their  own  minds,  and  understand  with  their  own  under- 
standings ;  of  those  who  would  follow  truth  meekly  and  rever- 
ently, but  firmly  and  resolutely,  wherever  it  may  lead ;  and  of 
those  who  scorn  to  be  shut  up  within  the  narrow  precincts  of 
party  or  sect.  And  what  is  herein  written,  the  reader  is  desired 
to  regard  as  the  utterance  of  such  a  mind. 

With  the  sincere  hope  and  the  fervent  prayer,  that  this  little 
volume  may  contribute  something  to  the  extension  of  a  liberal 
and  enlarged  theology ;  to  more  just  and  rational  views  of  the 
divine  character  and  government ;  to  higher  conceptions  of  human 
accountability  and  the  great  aims  and  offices  of  religion  ;  to  a 
more  profound  sense  of  the  necessity  of  labor  and  eftbrt,  on  the 
part  of  every  individual,  to  secure  the  great  ends  proposed  by 
religion  ;  to  the  more  thorough  persuasion  of  all  minds,  that  they 
are  the  makers  of  their  oAvn  heaven  or  hell,  and  of  the  indispen- 
sable necessity  of  faith  and  repentance,  as  the  means  of  salvation  ; 
it  is  submitted  to  the  candid  consideration  of  the  public,  and 
especially  that  portion  of  it,  which  embraces  the  idea  of  the 
absolute  eternity  of  human  punishment,  at  the  hand  of  God. 

Boston,  April,  1846. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER     I 


INTRODUCTION. 


Importance  of  religion— sources  of  information  concerning  it— need  to 
be  interpreted— exercise  of  the  rational  powers,  the  only  safeguard  aganist 
guilty  error— Universalism  not  a  iiegation,  but  an  affirmation— its  trans- 
cendent beauty— the  one  thing  needful  in  certain  cases. 


CHAPTER     II. 

MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED. 

Paare. 

Section    I.    The  Safe  Side, 30 

Belief  alone,  not  an  infeUi'ole  rrety  of  salvation— not  a  subject  of  pru- 
dential considerations— the  belief  of  Universalism  as  safe  as  any  other 
ism— men  approved  or  condemned  according  to  their  characters— pru- 
dence demands  the  belief  of  Universalism. 

Section  II.     The  Safest  Side, 4.3 

Importance  of  belief— endless  misery  tends  to  form  o  charncter  unlike 
that  demanded  by  Christianity— Universalism  favoralile  to  the  formation 
of  Christian  character— unsafe  to  believe  its  opposite. 

Section m.  Christ  and  his  Apostles  incompetent  Teachers.  .  -58 
The  Scriptures  not  designed  to  explain  and  enforce  a  system  of  dogiMtic 
lheolo"-y— all  errors  not  corrected  by  Christ  nnd  his  apostles— this  obiec- 
tion  lies  equally  aarainst  Christianity  and  Protestantism— some  of  the 
most  eminent  Christians  have  been  and  nre  TTniversalists— persecution 
and  wickedness  have  prevented  the  m  ire  ireiioral  prevalence  of  this 
doctrine. 

SSCTioN  rV'.  Why  did  the  Preachinsr  of  Clvrist  and  his  Apostles  alann 

the  Fears  and  excite  tne  Euiuiiy  ot  Wicked  Men  ?  76 

Christ's  and  the  Apostles'  preachiuir  alarmed  men's  fears,  and  awaken«»l 

their    enmitv— provin?  Un-varsalism  will   not  produce  this  effect— a_ 

other  isms  "in  the  same  category— Universalist  pulpit  not  limited  to     _ 

•■'^q. — perverse  sinners  always  offended  at  rebukes. 


X  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Section    V.    Universalism  incoiisislenl  with  the  Character  of  God 

as  a  Rewarder,      ......         80 

Punishment  means,  not  ends — probation— present  conduct  and  future 
condition  intimately  connected. 

Section  VI.    Univer-salism  inconsistent  with  God's  Mercy,         .         85 
Universalism  and  the  Biljle  err  in  the  same  direction — nothing  unmer- 
ciful in  rewarding  men  according  to  their  works. 

Section  VII.     God  treats  the  Righteous  worse  than  the  Wicked,  .         88 
Founded  upon  the  idea  that  all  men  enter  upon  a  state  of  felicity  imme- 
diately after  death — a  blessiag  to  be  killed  if  immediately  happy. 

Section  VIII.    There  is  no  such  thing  as  Forgiveness,         .  .         92 

Punishment  not  merely  vindictive  or  vindicatory — punishment  prospec- 
tive and  consi-sieat  with  forgiveness. 

Section  IX.  The  Necessity  of  Repentance,  ....  96 
Number  saved  does  not  affect  the  necessity  of  the  use  of  means — the 
relation  of  CAuse  and  effect  not  denied  by  Universalisis — religion  important 
if  no  connexion  exists  between  the  present  and  the  future — this  connexion 
defined. 

Section  X.    Universalism  not  needed  by  the  tme  Christian,       .        lOI 
The  unconcern  of  the  wicked  and   worldly — Universalism  dares  not 
promise  impunity  to  the  most  horrid  and  polluted  of  our  race — endlesa 
misery  tortures  the  purest  and  best  only,  in  this  world. 

Section  XI.    Universalism  pleasing  to  the  carnal  heart,     .  .        106 

The  natural  heart  pure — Universalism  not  pleasing  to  the  carnal  heart, 
but  offensive— at  war  with  all  wick.-  iaess. 

Section  XTI.    A  Universalist  Meeting  in  a  new  place,         .  .       109 

Character  of  Universalist  congregations — where  known  only  as  repre- 
sented by  enemies,  professed  by  all  the  vilest  of  society — enemiea 
responsible  for  it. 

CHAPTER     III. 

THE    ORIGINAL  WORDS    RENDERED  EVERLASTING,  ETERNAL, 
ETC.,  CONSIDERED  AS  AN  OBJECTION    TO    UNIVERSALISM. 

Section    I.    Preliminary  Remarks,       .  .  .  .  .11.5 

Subject  involves  much  learned  inquiry — relates  to  tlie  original  Scripture."? 
— translations  the  mere  judgment  of  fallible  men  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
original. 

Section  II.     Admissions  of  those  opposed  to  Universalism,  .        118 

AiSn  and  aionios  sometimes  used  in  a  limited  sense — fatal  to  the  positiua 
that  they  mean  of  necessity  absolute  eternity. 

Section  III.  The  Arguments  by  which  it  is  attempted  to  fix  upon  the 
terms  ai^n  and  mdnios  the  sense  of  Endless  Duration, 
considererl.  .  .  .  .  .  .121 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Page- 
Formation  of  the  word  a/on— usage  among  the  Jews— perpetuity  of 
happiness  and  misery  depends  upon  the  permanency  of  character— dura- 
lion  of  each  individual's  happiness  and  misery  contingent— usage  against 
the  sense  of  absohite  eternity. 

Section  IV.    Additional  Considerations  to  show  the  tenns  aion  and 

aiCnios  do  not  mean  "  absolute  eternity,"  .  .        136 

Statements  of  Lexicons— Classical  usage— Scripture  usage— usage  by 
the  Christian  Fathers. 
Skction  V.    Conclusion,  .  .  •  •  •  •  .151 

Used  in  a  variety  of  senses— means  an  indefinite  duration— spiritual- 
other  words  more  decisive  might  have  been  used— misery  will  endure  as 
long  as  men  are  bad. 

CHAPTER      IV. 

THE    HEBREW  WORD    SHEOL,    COMMONLY  RENDERED  GRAVE 

AND   HELL,    CONSIDERED    AS    AN    OBJECTION    TO    UNI- 

VERSALSM. 

Section    I.    Preliminary  Remarks,      .  .  .  .        160 

Ground  of  controversy  changed — dilficullies  arising  out  of  this  change 
in  managing  a  discussion. 

Section   II.    Admissions  of  the  Learned,        ....       162 
Change  in  the  tone  of  remark  by  those  opposed  to  Universalism— may 
mean  a  world  of  woe — hazardous  to  affirm  more. 

Section  III.    An  Exhibition  of  the  Usage  of  Sheol,  ...       164 
Means  the  under-world,  or  stale  of  the  dead  in  general — inhabitants 
and  their  employments — men  sent  to  Hades  as  a  punishment. 

CHAPTER     V. 

THE    GREEK    WORD    HADES,    COMMONLY    RENDERED     HELL 

IN    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT,    CONSIDERED    AS    AN 

OBJECTION    TO    UNIVERSALISM. 

Section   I.    Preliminary  Remarks.       .....       171 

Change  in  the  meaning  of  the  term  hades  and  hell — to  be  annihilated. 

Section  II.    Classical  and  Jewish  Usage  of  i?ades.  .  .  .173 

Place  of  departed  spirits — dark,  unsubstantial  and  shadowy — having 
rivers  and  gates — inhabitants  unsubstantial  forms — employments  the  ideal 
of  those  here — division  into  Elysium  and  Tartarus — place  of  purgation — 
Jewish  views  substantially  the  same  as  those  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 


XII  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Section  III.    New  Testament  Usage  of  the  term  Hades,      .  .       183 

Jewish  sense  of  the  term  Hades— the  New  Testament  sense  of  this 


Section  IV.    Exposition  of  Luke  16  :  23 186 

A  parable — designed  to  rebuke  some  of  the  notions  and  the  perverse 
obstinacy  of  the  Jews — represents  two  individuals,  first  in  this  and  then 
in  the  future  state — axv  argumentum  ad  hominem — impassable  gulf  be- 
tween the  good  and  bad  in  this  world. 


C  H  A  P  T  E  11     VI. 

THE    GREEK    WORD    TARTARUS,    RENDERED    HELL    IN    OUR 
COMMON    VERSION    OF    THE   NEW  TESTAMENT,    CONSID- 
ERED   AS    AN    OBJECTION    TO    UNIVERSALISM.  194 

Description  of  Tartarus — not  used  in  the  heatlien  sense  by  the  apostle 
—used  in  the  sense  of  sheol. 


CHAPTER     VII. 

THE    HEBREW-GREEK    WORD    GEHENNA,  ALWAYS  RENDERED 

HELL  IN  THE  COMMON  VERSION  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT, 

CONSIDERED  AS  AN  OBJECTION  TO  UNIVERSALISM. 

Section   I.    Preliminary  Observations.  ....       200 

Not  u-sed  as  the   name  of  a  place  of  endless  punishment  in  Christ's 
time— not  found  in  the  Apocrypha— at  variance  with  cuUateral  ideas. 

Section  II.     The  Derivation  of  Gehtnna,       ....        208 
Name  of  a  valley— used  as  a  figure  of  punishment  in  general,  with- 
out reference  to  time  when  or  place  where  it  is  to  be  inflicted. 

Section  III.    New  Testament  usage  of  the  term  Gehenna,  .  .       213 

Expositions  affirmative— Matt.  6  :  22  and  29,  30  ;  10  :  28  ;  18  :  8,  9  ; 
Mark  9  :  48-48  ;  Matt.  23:  15,  33;  James  3  :  6. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

GENERAL    CONCLUSION. 


UNIVERSALIST'S  ASSISTANT. 


CHAPTER  1. 

INTRODUCTION. 


Religion,  in  its  relation  to  man,  as  a  moral  and 
accountable  being,  who  is,  at  the  same  time,  mortal 
and  immortal,  destined  to  live  on  forever,  as  a 
spiritual  existence,  is  emphaticalty  the  subject  of 
subjects.  There  is  nothing  that  so  nearty  concerns 
his  highest  and  best  interests  as  this.  It  is  so, 
because  it  is  what  relates  to  that  part  of  his  being 
which  is  immortal,  and  which  must  be  affected,  for 
weal  or  for  woe,  as  it  is  regarded  or  disregarded, 
not  only  during  his  fleeting  physical  existence,  but 
on  his  entrance  at  least,  upon  the  verities  of  the 
spiritual  world.  As  is  the  character  he  forms 
under  its  influence,  during  his  present  mode  of 
existence,  such  must  be  his  character  and  condition 
when  the  soul  is  ushered  into  the  unseen  realities 
of  the  world  of  spirits.  This  position  few  well- 
informed  and  reflecting  minds  will  question. 
2 


14  UiSnVERSALlST's    ASSISTANT. 

The  kind  of  character  we  form,  and  that  we  may 
think  necessary  to  secure  our  highest  good,  must 
depend  very  much  upon  the  theological  ideas  we 
cherish.  In  other  words,  what  we  are  as  men,  in 
our  dispositions,  feelings,  principles  and  habits — all 
that  goes  to  make  up  the  character — bears  a  nearer 
relation  to  what  we  believe,  theologically,  than  many 
seem  to  imagine.  Indeed,  it  is  very  much  to  be 
doubted,  whether  any  man's  character  will  be  any 
more  refined  and  exalted  than  his  theological  views. 
The  whole  history  of  man,  as  an  intellectual  and 
moral  being,  goes  to  establish  this  position.^^ 

Religion  then,  coming  and  claiming  to  present 
truths  of  such  infinite  and  eternal  moment  to  us, 
and  calculated  so  deeply  to  afiect  our  characters 
and  destiny,  as  moral  and  accountable  beings,  does 
it  not  demand,  and  ought  it  not  to  receive  our  most 
profound  and  earnest  attention  ?  Many  of  its  teach- 
ings relate  to  the  world  beyond  the  darkness  and 
silence  of  the  grave,  of  which  we  can  know  nothing, 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  this  term,  in  this 
mortal  state.  All  we  can  learn  concerning  that 
state  is  from  revelation  alone.  We  may  speculate 
and  conjecture  about  it;  but  no  voice  from  the 
home  of  the  dead,  comes  to  tell  us  what  it  is,  what 
their  mode  of  existence,  or  what  their  employment 

*  Universalist  Quarterly,  Vol.  1,  Art.  xxiv.,  p.  256.  Bib- 
lical Repository,  Vol.  9,  New  Series,  Art.  1  for  April,  1843, 
p.  253. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

and  their  condition.  All  the  light  that  is  shed  upon 
its  impenetrable  darkness,  comes  from  the  great 
facts  of  our  being,  and  the  revelations  God  has  seen 
fit  to  make  in  the  volume  of  inspiration. 

Now  both  these  sources  of  information  need  to  be 
interpreted.  They  address  our  reason^  and  with 
this  for  a  guide,  we  are  to  search  for  the  truths  they 
would  communicate.  And  no  other  means  are 
offered  for  our  protection  against  error,  in  reference 
to  this  matter,  than  in  relation  to  all  other  subjects 
presented  for  human  belief.  Our  only  protection 
against  error,  which  involves  guilt,  is  diligence  and 
faithfulness  in  examination,  an  unprejudiced  and 
candid  spirit  in  weighing  testimony,  and  sincere 
and  fervent  desires  to  know  and  receive  the  truth, 
whatever  it  may  be.  If,  with  such  a  spirit,  we  fall 
into  any  error,  it  will  not  bring  guilt  upon  our  souls, 
nor  will  God  condemn  us  for  it.  But  if  such  is  not 
our  course,  the  spirit  and  temper  of  our  minds,  and 
our  desires,  we  shall  bring  guilt  upon  our  oa\ti 
souls,  if  we  fall  into  error,  and  subject  ourselves  to 
the  rebukes  of  the  Most  High.  And  even  if  we 
escape  all  error  and  attain  all  truth,  it  will  secure 
no  reward,  because  it  will  result  from  circumstances, 
not  from  our  own  endeavors  after  it.^ 


*  Whewell's  Elements  of  Morality,  Vol.  1,  pp.  243,  ^  336 
and  327,  <^  455.  Vol.  2,  p.  113.  ch  xiii.  Harpers'  Ed.,  1845, 
2  Vols.  16mo.  "Undoubtedly  the  reception  of  a  system, 
so  pure  in  spirit  and  tendency  as  the  sfospel,  is  to  be  regarded 


16  universalist's  assistant. 

If  such  be  the  state  of  the  case,  how  important  it 
is,  that  we  diligently  and  earnestly  inquire  after 
the  truth,  and  give  all  that  claims  to  come  from 
God,  a  candid  and  fair  examination,  however  widely 
it  may  differ  with  our  present  views  I  We  may 
not  innocently  sit  down  and  give  ourselves  up 
to  inaction,  as  intellectual  beirgs,  in  reference  to 
religion,  under  the  vain  and  presumptuous  notion, 
that  we  have  attained  all  truth,  without  any  admix- 
ture of  error.  The  idea  of  our  own  infallibility  or 
that  of  our  sect,  is  no  less  preposterous  and  absurd, 
than  the  claim  for  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope,  or 
any  other  saint  of  the  Romish  calendar. 

What  imperfect  creatures  we  are !  How  little 
do  we  know,  much  as  we  may  boast  of  our  intelli- 
gence! With  all  the  distinguishing  powers  God 
has  conferred  upon  us,  how  little  can  we  see ! 
How  liable  we  are  to  be  mistaken,  even  about  the 
most  ordinary  affairs  of  life  !  How  constantly  are 
we  committing  mistakes  and  falling  into  errors, 
even  upon  the  most  plain,  simple  and  obvious  mat- 
ters that  fall  under  our  observations !     When  we 


in  general,  as  a  favorable  sign.  But  let  a  man  adopt  this 
religion,  because  it  will  serve  his  interest  and  popularity  ; 
let  him  shut  his  mind  against  objections  to  it,  lest  they 
should  shake  his  foith  in  a  gainful  system  ;  let  him  tamper 
with  his  intellect,  and  for  base  and  selfish  ends,  exhaust  its 
strength  in  defence  of  the  prevalent  faith,  and  he  is  just  as 
criminal  in  believing,  as  another  would  be  in  rejecting  Chris- 
tianity under  the  same  bad  impulses."'  Channing's  Works, 
Vol.  X  p.  320;  Boston.  1841. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

go  forth  upon  the  earth,  the  very  grass,  earth  and 
stones,  which  we  tread  under  our  feet,  are  covered 
with  tlie  thick  veil  of  mystery  !  Whence  came  this 
grass,  this  earth,  and  these  stones  ?  How  does  this 
grass  grow  ?  A\^iy  is  one  kind  of  grass  produced 
upon  any  given  spot,  rather  than  another  ?  Why 
is  it  green,  rather  than  red,  black  or  some  other 
color?  Why  is  the  ground,  in  any  given  place, 
composed  of  gravel  or  sand,  rather  than  argile, 
alluvium,  or  some  other  kinds  of  earths  ?  And 
these  stones,  of  what  are  they  composed  ?  What  has 
given  them  their  peculiar  forms  and  appearances  ? 
How  many  can  answer  such  inquiries  as  these  ? 
And  yet  the  answers  to  most  of  them,  are  clearly 
within  the  range  of  our  powers. 

We  are  endowed  with  our  five  senses,  to  guide 
us  in  our  connexion  with  the  material  world ;  and 
yet,  perfect  as  these  are,  the  utmost  wariness  and 
caution,  and  continual  effort  is  requisite  to  prevent 
us  from  committing  mistakes.  But  with  a  full 
knowledge  of  all  this,  hardly  a  day  passes  but  it  is 
the  witness  of  our  betrayment  into  some  error, 
much,  perhaps,  to  our  mortification,  if  not  to  our 
injury.  With  reason  and  experience  to  guide  us  in 
business,  how  many  errors  we  commit  in  our  cal- 
culations and  plans  !  Nor  is  the  loftiest  genius  and 
the  largest  experience  sufficient,  to  protect  men 
against  this  liability. 

If  we  are  so  much  exposed  to  errors  and  mis- 
2^ 


18  universaltst's  assistant. 

takes,  from  the  imperfections  of  our  nature,  in 
relation  to  things  of  every-day  life  and  of  the  out- 
ward and  material  world,  and  so  limited  in  our 
knowledge  of  those  things,  subject  to  the  examina- 
tion of  the  senses,  can  we  regard  ourselves  as 
having  attained  all  truth,  and  as  exempt  from  all 
liability  to  errors  and  mistakes,  in  reference  to  that 
greatest,  grandest,  highest,  and  most  sublime  of  all 
subjects,  religion — that  subject  which  deals  with  the 
mysteries  of  the  soul,  and  the  world  to  come  ?  And 
should  not  this  very  danger  lead  us  to  exercise 
modesty,  humility  and  fear,  in  deciding  upon  the 
claims  of  our  brother's  peculiarities  of  faith,  to  con- 
sideration ?  Should  it  not  lead  us  to  pause,  con- 
sider and  examine,  with  the  utmost  fairness  and 
candor,  the  opinions  of  others,  before  we  venture  to 
assume  we  are  certainly  right,  or  censure  and  con- 
demn them,  as  in  grievous  and  hurtful  error?. 
This,  surely,  is  one  of  the  most  plain  and  obvious 
inferences  from  these  facts. 

With  these  views  of  the  importance  of  attaining 
religious  truth,  to  the  formation  of  a  right  char- 
acter, and  of  our  liability  to  error,  I  cannot  but 
regard  it  as  perilous  business,  for  any  one  to  shut 
up  his  mind  against  all  new  light  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  religion ;  to  stifle  all  inquiry ;  to  smother 
every  doubt  about  present  views,  as  profane ;  or  to 
treat  what  is  claimed  from  any  respectable  source, 
as  truth  from  heaven,  with  neglect  and  contempt. 


INTRODUCTION.  X9 

before  a  thorough  and  candid  examhiation  of  these 
claims  has  been  made.  In  such  a  course  we  shall  not 
be  held  guiltless  by  our  iviaker.  It  was  this  spirit 
which  led  the  Jews  to  reject  Jesus.  Let  us  beware 
of  its  indulgence,  lest  we  are  found  fighting  against 
God,  and  are  involved  in  a  like  condemnation. 

Is  it  with  these  views,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  my  fellow-Christians  in  their  inquiries  after 
truth,  that  this  work  is  entered  upon.  Before  enter- 
ing upon  it,  a  few  explanations  are  necessary,  that 
the  author  and  his  readers  may  have  a  fair  under- 
standing of  each  other's  meaning  and  intentions. 

The  terms  Universalists  and  Universalism  are 
placed  in  the  title-page,  and  will  frequently  occur 
in  this  work.  Different  senses  are  attached  to 
these  words,  at  the  present  time,  in  the  religious 
world,  even  when  applied  to  the  denomination  of 
Christians  which  bear  that  name,  and  used  to 
describe  their  views.  Hence  it  seems  necessary 
that  an  explanation  of  ^vhat  is  intended  by  these 
terms,  be  made.  What  is  Universalism  ?  Who 
are  Universalists? 

I  reply,  Universalism  is  a  doctrine^  not  a  system 
of  doctrines.  I  say  it  is  not  a  system  of  doctrines, 
because  many  of  those  who  are  known  by  this 
name,  hardly  hold  any  two  doctrines  in  common, 
except  such  as  are  held  in  common  by  all  who 
claim  to  be  Christians.  They  agree  in  but  one 
doctrine  as  distinctive  and  peculi 


20  universalist's  assistant. 

and  upon  which  the  name  is  founded.  Let  a  system 
of  doctrines  be  adopted,  and  the  attempt  be  made  to 
enforce  it  as  Universalism,  and  those  who  now  live 
together  in  harmony  and  good  fellowship,  would  be 
alienated  from  each  other,  and  the  denomination 
torn  into  fragments.  What,  then,  is  this  peculiar, 
distinctive  and  characteristic  doctrine  ? 

I  answer  negatively,  that  it  is  not  the  belief,  that 
all  the  consequences  of  human  conduct  are  confined 
to  the  present  mode  of  being,  as  is  sometimes 
represented.  Such  a  restriction  of  the  meaning  of 
the  term,  w^ould  convey  the  idea  to  the  world,  that 
the  distinguishing  faith  of  the  denomination  of 
Universalists,  is  the  belief  of  a  mere  negation — that 
all  the  consequences  of  men's  habits  of  thought, 
feeling  and  action,  are  confined  to  the  state  this 
side  of  the  grave.  But  this  is  not,  neither  was  it 
ever  ^fact.  There  never  has  been  a  time  since  the 
denomination  had  an  existence,  when  more  or  less 
of  the  members,  both  clergy  and  laity,  were  not 
believers  in  the  doctrine  of  future  punishment,  or 
that  present  conduct  would  affect  the  future  condi- 
tion of  man.     How  false,  then,  is  such  a  definition  ! 

But  such  a  representation  is  not  only  false  in 
fact,  but  wickedly  unjust.  If  thus  restricted  in  its 
meaning,  the  term  Universalism  is  despoiled  of  its 
distinctive  character.  It  is  no  longer  a  proper 
name,  pointing  out  a  particular  class  of  religionists, 
but  becomes  a  common  name,  descriptive  of  a  genvs 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

under  which  are  several  species.  Admit  such  a 
definition,  and  the  Deist  and  Atheist,  who  deny  the 
truth  of  revelation,  that  man  exists  at  all  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  body,  contemn  public  worship, 
and  scoff  at  and  ridicule  all  the  great  truths  of 
religion,  are  as  much  Universalists,  as  those  are, 
who  beUeve  in  the  existence  of  God,  the  truth  of 
divine  revelation,  and  human  accountability;  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  own  him  as  their  Master  and 
Saviour;  in  the  importance  of  social  and  public 
worship  to  man's  progress  in  piety  and  virtue ;  and 
in  the  doctrine  of  human  immortality,  and  that 
every  hum.an  soul  shall  at  last  arrive  at  purity  and 
bliss,  and  endeavor  to  live  devoted  and  godly  lives ! 
And  why  ?  Simply  because  all  alike  believe,  all 
the  consequences  of  human  action  are  confined  to 
the  present  mode  of  existence,  while  there  is  as 
wide  a  difference  in  their  positions,  as  there  is 
between  light  and  darkness — the  one  believing,  that 
this  is  the  case,  because  man  will  not  exist  after 
his  mortal  dissolution,  and  the  other,  because  all 
men  will  be  cleansed  from  all  moral  defilement. 
How  unjust  and  false,  then,  is  a  definition  which 
involves  such  consequences ! 

I  remark  then,  affirmatively,  that  Universalism, 
instead  of  being  a  mere  negation,  is  a  positive 
affirmation.  It  is  the  simple  doctrine  of  the  final 
salvation  of  every  human  soul.  It  is  not  the  mere 
denial  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  but 


22  universalist's  assistant. 

the  positive  affirmation,  that  all  men  will  ultimately 
attain  to  holiness,  and  consequently  to  happiness. 
And  those  who  embrace  this  doctrine,  however 
widely  they  may  differ  in  regard  to  other  points  of 
belief,  are  Universalists,  theoretically. 

Should  I  go  more  into  detail,  in  defining  what  is 
meant  by  the  term  Universalism,  by  those  who  pro- 
fess it,  I  would  say,  that  they  mean  by  it,  not  that 
the  whole  human  family  shall  be  delivered,  so  much 
from  outward  and  material  flames  ;  not  from  the 
unimaginable  terrors  of  a  world  of  woe ;  not  from 
everlasting  perdition ;  but  from  what  is  more  to  be 
dreaded — from  sin  itself;  from  the  evil  of  their  own 
minds,  which  is  the  cause  of  what  men  do  and  are 
to  suffer,  as  moral  beings.  They  mean  by  it  deliv- 
erance from  the  control  of  wrong  principles  and  hab- 
its ;  a  purifying  of  all  souls  from  all  that  is  base  and 
vile,  in  thought,  affection  and  principle  ;  a  removal 
of  all  the  guilt  and  contaminations  of  sin ;  a  pluck- 
ing of  all  souls  from  that  hell  of  darkness  and  guilt, 
into  which  the  soul  of  every  wicked  man  is  plunged  ; 
that  by  being  thus  renovated,  they  are  exalted  to 
heaven.  This  is  the  fact  in  reference  to  both  classes 
of  Universalists.  All  the  difference  there  is  between 
them,  in  regard  to  this  matter,  is  as  to  the  manner 
of  attaining  this  end.  Those  who  believe  the  con- 
sequences of  human  action  extend  beyond  the  pres- 
ent state,  suppose  salvation  to  be  attained  in  all 
cases,  throuj^h  each  individual's  own  nsi'encv — the 


LNTRODUCTION.  23 

volunUiry  exercise  of  his  own  powers,  under  God's 
blessing ;  and  in  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  present 
life,  those  who  believe  all  the  consequences  of  men's 
conduct  are  confined  to  this  mortal  existence,  fully 
concur  in  this  view.  But  they  do  not  suppose  this 
principle  applies  to  another  state.  They  think,  that 
at  death,  or  between  death  and  the  resurrection,  all 
the  corruptions  of  every  human  soul  will  be  purged 
out,  by  some  mysterious  agency,  wholly  indepen- 
dent of  the  individual's  volitions  and  the  exercise  of 
his  own  powers. "^ 

Such  is  Universalism  as  it  is  understood  by  its 
friends;  and  although  there  seems  to  be  a  wide  differ- 
ence, so  far  as  practical  tendencies  and  influences 
are  concerned,  between  the  views  of  the  two  classes, 
as  to  the  manner  of  attaining  this  great  end,  they 
agree  in  maintaining,  that  holiness  is  indispensably 
necessary  to  happiness,  in  all  worlds;  and  it  is  on  this 
ground,  they  are  united  together  as  one  division 
of  the  church.  They  differ  only  in  regard  to  the 
method  by  which  this  state  of  soul  is  attained,  in  the 


*  This  view  is  only  the  popular  view  universally  appUed. 
That  is,  it  is  the  popular  view  relative  to  those  termed  the 
regenerate,  extended  to  all  men,  and  I  cannot  see,  if  the 
regenerate  are  to  have  their  few  remaining  corruptions  at 
death,  purged  out  by  some  means,  independent  of  their  own 
volitions,  or  the  exercise  of  their  own  powers,  why  the  more 
numerous  sins  of  the  iinre generate,  may  not  be  removed  in  the 
same  way  and  upon  the  same  principle.  The  one  is  cer- 
tainly as  rational,  and  philosophical,  and.  indeed,  scriptural 
as  the  other. 


24  TJNIVERSALISX'fci    ASSISTANT. 

world  of  spirits,  which  manifestly  involves  impor- 
tant consequences,  in  its  bearings  upon  the  present 
conduct  of  men,  for  if  the  condition  of  the  human 
soul,  upon  its  entrance  into  a  future  state,  is  not 
to  be  at  all  affected  by  the  character  formed  in  the 
present  state,  the  motive  to  effort,  in  cultivating  a 
character  in  conformity  with  God's  law,  is  mani- 
festly much  weaker,  than  under  the  view,  that  all 
holiness  is  to  be  attained,  in  all  worlds,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  our  own  volitions  and  powers — that  it  is  the 
result  of  action,  not  a  thing  mechanically  to  be  con- 
ferred upon  the  human  soul,  by  some  outward  or 
foreign  agency. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  appears,  then,  that 
Universalism  is  the  single  doctrine  of  universal  sal- 
vation, flowing  out  of  universal  holiness,  without 
reference  to  the  manner  or  method  by  which  holi- 
ness is  attained.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  restora- 
tion of  the  whole  human  race  to  goodness  and  vir- 
tue, and,  as  a  consequence,  to  happiness. 

Against  this  doctrine,  many  objections  have  been 
urged,  from  various  sources,  and  it  is  the  design  of 
this  work  to  meet  and  answer  these  objections,  for 
the  purpose  of  removing  the  difficulties  they  present 
to  many  minds,  in  the  way  of  embracing  Univer- 
salism. This  topic  is  selected,  because  no  work 
exists  at  present,  which  covers  this  ground,  directly 
and  specifically,  that  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
an  inquirer,  and  the  want  of  something  of  the  kind 


INTKODUCTION.  25 

is  often  felt,.  For  direct  proof  of  the  doctrine,  the 
reader  is  referred  mainly,  to  works  already  in  exist- 
ence in  abundance. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  several  topics  that  will 
claim  the  attention,  it  will  be  the  object  to  give  it  as 
much  of  an  affirmative  character,  as  is  consistent 
with  a  'jLegative  position.  In  meeting  the  several 
objections  that  will  pass  under  review,  it  will  be  the 
effort  to  throw  as  much  light  upon  the  general  sub- 
ject, as  the  extent  of  the  work  will  admit. 

The  point  of  doctrine  involved  in  this  discussion, 
I  regard  one  of  transcendant  interest  and  importance, 
aside  from  the  consideration  of  its  being  a  religious 
matter.  When  we  look  out  upon  the  world,  and 
see  the  scene  of  darkness,  confusion  and  misery 
that  is  presented  to  the  mind's  eye — the  strife  and 
contention,  sorrow  and  despair,  degradation  and 
want,  sin  and  misery  ;  the  hum.an  race  debased  and 
enslaved  by  unholy  desires,  by  vice  and  crime,  by 
wars  and  fightings,  by  domestic  and  civil  commo- 
tions, and  all  the  turmoil  and  wretchedness  there  is 
in  the  world,  Universalism,  like  an  angel  of  light 
direct  from  heaven,  comes  and  tells  us,  that  all  this 
distressing  scene  shall  give  place  to  one  of  glory 
and  peace  !  It  tells  us,  that  God  has  so  arranged 
things,  that  a  time  shall  come  in  his  infinitely  wise 
;"'nd  beneficent  counsels,  when  a  scene  of  order  and 
harmony  shall  succeed  to  this  of  confusion  and  strife, 
and  man  become  the  universal  friend  of  man.     It  tells 


26  u^^iveiisalist's  assistant. 

us  a  time  will  come,  under  the  divine  government, 
when  every  degi'aded,  enslaved  and  suffering  one 
shall  be  relieved,  elevated  and  brought  into  the  glo- 
rious liberty  of  the  sons  of  God ;  when  sin  and 
crime  shall  cease,  all  evil  passions  be  hushed  to  rest, 
and  order,  harmony  and  love  shall  not  only  prevail 
throughout  the  vast  domain  of  the  Creator,  but  in 
every  human  soul ;  and  that  all  this  shall  be  brought 
about  through  the  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  acting 
upon  human  volitions. 

When  we  look  about  us,  and  see  how  wide  are 
the  ravages  of  death — one  after  another  of  our  neigh- 
bors and  friends  cut  down  on  our  right  hand  and  on 
our  left — leaving  mourning  husbands,  widows,  pa- 
rents, children,  brothers,  sisters  and  friends,  whose 
tears  would  make  a  mighty  river,  Universalism 
gently  whispers  in  our  ears,  "Weep  not;"  for  hus- 
bands and  wives,  parents  and  children,  brothers  and 
sisters,  neighbors  and  friends  shall  all  meet  again, 
where  sickness  and  death,  sorrow  and  crying  shall 
be  unknown.  It  tells  man,  that  a  time  will  surely 
come,  when  there  will  be  no  bereaved  husbands,  no 
widows,  no  childless  mothers,  no  broken  circles  of 
domestic  love  or  social  affection ;  but  all  husbands 
shall  meet  their  lost  wives,  and  all  wives  their  lost 
husbands  ;  all  parents  their  children,  and  all  chil- 
dren their  parents ;  all  brothers  and  sisters,  neigh- 
bors and  friends,  each  other,  no  more  to  be  separated 
forever  !     It  tells  him  every  wound  shall  be  healed, 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

every  lost  one  found,  and  not  one  of  earth's  unnum- 
bered millions  shall  be  missing  from  the  sun-light  of 
God's  countenance  ! 

Is  not  this  a  bright  and  glorious  prospect  for  our 
race  ?  Who  that  has  the  heart  of  a  man,  must  not 
contemplate  such  a  consummation  as  the  result  of 
Christ's  mission,  with  dehght?  What  can  be  more 
grateful,  than  such  a  view,  to  a  pure,  benevolent  and 
Christian  mind  and  heart?  Pause  and  meditate 
upon  it  a  moment.  A  fallen  world  elevated  to  God  ! 
A  family  of  prodigals  returned  in  penitence  and 
tears,  to  a  father's  house  !  A  race  of  rebels  brought 
back  to  their  allegiance  to  the  Infinite  One  !  The 
'Universe  attuned  in  every  pulsation,  in  harmony 
with  its  Creator,  its  soul  !  What  more  grand  and 
magnificent  spectacle  could  be  presented  to  the 
human  mind  !  It  is  aii  the  largest  and  most  philan- 
thropic heart  can  desire,  and  the  most  comprehen- 
sive and  generous  mind  imagine. 

Let  not  the  reader  say,  as  many  have  said  before, 
"  It  is  too  good  to  be  true  ! "  Nothing  is  or  can  be 
too  good  for  the  Infinite  Father  to  do.  But  let  this 
very  excellence  of  the  view,  commend  the  subject 
to  your  most  devout  and  serious  attention,  and  make 
you  feel  that  it  is  preeminently  entitled  to  a  candid 
and  fair  investigation.  This  is  all  its  believers  ask 
for  it;  and  if  others  cannot  see  as  they  do  in  refer- 
ence to  it,  they  can  only  lament  their  misfortune. 

Besides  this,  there  are  circumstances   in  which 


2b  UNIVEIlSALT^^T  S    ASSISTANT. 

men  are  often  placed,  when  nothing  but  Universal- 
ism  can  meet  the  wants  of  the  most  pure,  devout 
and  pious  minds  and  hearts.  When  called,  to 
part  with  children  or  friends  upon  whom  our  fond- 
est affections  are  placed,  by  death,  who  have,  gone 
away  without  that  preparation  we  may  deem  ne- 
cessary for  a  world  of  bliss,  upon  entrance  into  the 
spirit-land,  what  can  meet  our  wants,  in  the  sad  hour 
of  separation,  but  a  hope  that  there  is  yet  room  for 
them  to  return ;  that  the  door  of  mercy  is  still  open, 
and  a  Father's  arms  still  extended  to  receive  them, 
when  they  will  turn  toward  him  in  penitence  and 
faith  ?  This  is  what  the  heart  desires  above  all 
things,  in  this  extremity  ;  and  the  more  pure  and 
Christ-like  it  is,  the  more  earnest  these  desires. 
But  these  desires  cannot  be  answered,  nor  these 
■wants  met,  except  by  I  niversalism.  Is  not  this 
doctrine,  then,  worthy  of  the  most  profound  attention 
of  every  human  soul  ?  It  surely  is  so  ;  for  all  are 
liable  to  be  placed  in  these  circumstances,  and  if  we 
do  not  possess  such  a  faith,  we  shall  be  left  com- 
fortless. 

It  will  not  do  for  us  to  try  to  comfort  ourselves, 
in  that  hour,  with  saying,  "  God  is  just,  and  will  do 
right  with  my  child  or  my  friends."  If  such  are  our 
views  of  his  character  and  his  government,  that  we 
think  he  can  consistently  doom  any  soul  to  endless 
perdition,  it  will  be  a  hopeless  task  to  attempt  to  make 
our  hearts  fed,  that  ^uch  a  fate  is  just,  much  less 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

inerciful  for  our  children  or  friends.     It  can  afford 
no  comfort. 

May  I  not  expect,  then,  a  candid  and  serious 
examination  of  what  is  herein  said,  in  defence  of 
Universalism,  by  every  one  into  whose  hands  this 
volume  may  fall  ?  This  I  demand  of  you  as  an 
accountable  being,  w^ho  must  answer  to  God  for 
your  doings ;  a  regard  for  your  own  comfort,  and 
your  highest  and  best  good,  as  a  moral  agent  and  a 
spiritual  existence. 

3=^ 


30 


CHAPTER  II. 
MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 

SECTION    I. THE    SAFE    SIDE. 

"  On  the  ground  of  prudence,  I  am  constrained  to  reject 
that  system.  It  is  a  maxim,  the  correctness  of  which  you 
will  readily  admit,  that  in  every  question  of  duty  and  hap- 
piness, where  one  side  is  doubtful  and  the  other  safe,  it  is 
the  part  of  wisdom  to  take  the  safe  side.  Act  according  to 
this  maxim,  and  you  cannot  be  a  Universalist."  * 

This  objection  has  undoubtedly  produced  a  tre- 
mendous effect  upon  a  certain  class  of  minds.  It  has 
unquestionably  deterred  many  an  honest  and  simple- 
hearted  person,  from  all  attempts  at  free  religious 
inquiry.  They  are  afraid  if  they  venture  to  inquire, 
they  may  be  led  to  adopt  views  other  than  they 
now  hold,  and  these  Qiiay  prove  false,  and  in  con- 
sequence they  may  be  eternally  damned ;  forgetting 
entirely  that  they  may  now  be  in  error,  and  exposed 
in  the  same  way. 

In  reply  to  this  objection,  I  remark,  in  general 
terms,  that  plausible  as  it  may  seem  at  first  view, 
this  objection  is  a  most  miserable  and  shallow 
sophism,  as  will  be  shown  by  several  considerations. 

1.    This  objection  is  founded  upon  the  idea,  that 

«  American  Tract  Society's  Tracts,  No.  224,  p.  1. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         31 

the  simple  belief  of  a  truth,  is  an  infallible  surety 
of  salvation,  without  any  reference  to  other  circum- 
stances. But  this  is  a  position  to  which  no  Protes- 
tant will  adhere.  Even  the  most  strenuous  believer 
in  the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment  will  admit, 
that  an  individual  may  most  cordially  and  heartily 
receive  that  doctrine  as  the  truth,  and  yet  be 
eternally  lost.  Wherein,  then,  is  the  safety  of 
believing  this,  more  than  its  opposite  ? 

2.  I  remark,  that  belief  is  not  the  subject  of 
volition,  or  any  prudential  considerations,  except  in 
an  indirect  way.  It  is  the  result  of  evidence  sup- 
posed or  real.  The  only  way  in  which  belief  can 
be  effected  by  our  volitions,  is  in  reference  to  evi- 
dence and  its  consideration.  Men  may  shut  their 
eyes  against  the  light,  and  so  rush  on  in  darkness ; 
or  cuhivate  an  uncandid  spirit,  and  thus  be  blinded 
to  the  force  of  evidence,  and  in  this  way  they  may 
be  governed,  in  their  belief  or  unbelief,  by  their 
volitions,  to  a  very  great  extent.  But  w^hen  a  man 
has  his  eyes  open  and  is  possessed  of  a  candid  and 
serious  spirit,  his  belief  is  controlled  by  the  evidence 
presented  to  his  mind  He  must  believe  according 
to  the  evidence  he  sees.  Hence  it  will  be  seen, 
that  the  supposed  safety  in  this  case,  lies  not  in  the 
belief  but  in  the  avowal  of  one's  convictions ;  for  it 
is  the  avowal  only  of  a  candid  man's  honest  convic- 
tions, that  is  entirely  subject  to  his  volitions,  or  any 
prudential   considerations  Avhatever.     So   that  the 


32  universalist's  assistant. 

amount  of  the  matter  is  this ;  that  it  is  safer  to  pro- 
fess a  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment, 
Avhile  we  really  believe  it  is  false,  than  honestly 
profess  a  belief  of  the  doctrine  of  universal  salva- 
tion !  In  other  words,  this  objection  is,  in  effect, 
maintaining  that  it  is  safer ,  under  God's  government, 
to  be  a  hypocrite,  than  an  honest  man ! 

3.  This  objection  involves  consequences  in  an- 
other direction,  which  the  objector  himself  will  not 
admit.  It  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  among  Protes- 
tants, that  a  man  may  be  saved  if  he  is  truly  pious, 
whatever  may  be  his  religious  belief.  "  But,"  says 
the  Papist,  "  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  amounting 
to  the  larger  part  of  the  civilized  world,  hath  ever 
held,  and  now  holds,  that  no  man  who  dies  out  of 
her  communion,  however  deep  and  fervent  his  piety, 
can  possibly  be  saved.  Now  admitting  that  the 
Catholic  church  may  be  wrong,  no  man  has  any- 
thing to  fear  from  entering  her  ample  bosom,  and 
living  piously  there  ;  for  Papist  though  he  be,  he 
will  be  saved ;  but  if  she  is  right,  the  man  who 
rejects  her,  loses  everything  beyond  remedy.  Hell 
is  his  everlasting  portion."  Does  not  prudence, 
then,  demand  that  we  should  all  become  Papists, 
if  the  objection  under  consideration  has  any  force  ? 

From  what  has  already  been  said,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  reason  of  the  thing  shows,  that  it  is  just  as 
safe  to  believe  Universalism,  as  endless  misery.  I 
shall    now  show  that  it  is  so,  from  the  Scripture 


MISCELLANEOUS    0E3ECTI0NS    CONSIDERED.  33 

representations  of  the  matter.  The  argument  from 
this  source  will  be  what  logicians  call  the  argumen- 
turn  ad  hoviinem,  that  is,  an  argument  drawn  from, 
the  admitted  premises  of  an  opponent.  What  I 
mean  is,  that  I  shall  admit,  for  the  sake  of  the 
argument,  the  objector's  interpretations  of  the  texts 
I  shall  quoto,  so  far  as  their  application  is  concerned, 
and  then  show,  from  these  xQiy  texts,  that  the 
believer  in  endless  misery  is  no  more  safe,  if  his 
own  doctrine  is  true,  than  he  w^ho  believes  Univer- 
salism,  so  far  as  their  eternal  states  are  concerned. 

Those  who  believe  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery, 
generally  maintain,  that  there  is  to  be  a  day  of 
general  judgment,  when  every  man  is  to  be  tried, 
and  acquitted  or  condemned,  according  to  a  certain 
rule,  and  that  this  decision  fixes  the  condition  of  the 
soul  for  eternity.  This  belief  is  founded  upon  that 
class  of  texts,  w^hich  speak  of  Christ's  coming  to 
judge  the  world,  in  the  last  day.  Admit  there  is 
to  be  such  a  judgment,  and  that  by  its  decisions 
man's  destiny  is  fixed  for  eternity,  and  the  question 
arises, — AYhat  is  the  ground  upon  which  the  deci- 
sion is  made  ?  In  other  words, — For  what  is  one 
class  to  be  acquitted ;  and,  For  what  are  the  others 
to  be  condemned  ? 

To  satisfy  our  minds  upon  this  point,  it  is  only 
iiecessar}''  for  us  to  examine  the  descriptions  of 
what  is  supposed  to  be  the  great  da}-  of  final 
account — the  general  and  finnl  judgment,  found  in 


34  tjniversalist's  assistant. 

the  Scriptures.  How  do  they  represent  (he  matter  ? 
I  will  take  the  following  passage  as  a  distinguished 
example. 

"  When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory, 
and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  his  glory ;  and  before  him  shall 
be  gathered  all  nations ;  and  he  shall  separate  them 
one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep 
from  the  goats ;  and  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  the 
right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left.  Then  shall 
the  king  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  come  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  For  I 
Avas  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat ;  I  was 
thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink ;  I  was  a  stranger, 
and  ye  took  me  in ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me ;  I 
was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me ;  I  was  in  prison,  and 
ye  came  unto  me.  Then  shall  the  righteous 
answer  him,  saying.  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an 
hungered,  and  fed  thee  !  or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee 
drink !  When  saw  we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took 
thee  in !  or  naked,  and  clothed  thee  !  Or  when 
saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  came  unto  thee  ! 
And  the  king  shall  answer  and  say  unto  them, 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  have  done 
it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye 
have  done  it  unto  me."  ^ 

From  this  it  will  be  perceived,  that  these  persons 

*Matt.  25:  31—40. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         35 

were  not  approved,  or  pronounced  righteous,  merely 
because  they  believed  one  doctrine  or  another. 
Their  belief  is  not  named  or  called  in  question  in 
any  way.  The  king  does  not  say,  come  unto  me, 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  because  ye  have  believed 
the  system  of  doctrines  denominated  evangelical  or 
unevangelical.  Nor  did  he  pronounce  them  his 
friends  and  blessed,  because  they  belonged  to  the 
Catholic,  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  Congregation- 
alist,  Baptist,  Methodist,  Unitarian,  Universalist  or 
any  other  church  whatever.  The  entire  proceeding 
in  this  case,  was  predicated  upon  what  the  individ- 
uals really  were  as  men,  in  their  doings.  They 
were  commended  and  received  into  favor,  on  ac- 
count of  their  acts  of  practical  goodness — their  acts 
of  kindness  and  benevolence  toward  the  suffering 
of  their  race,  which  was  regarded  and  treated  as  if 
done  to  the  Judge  himself. 

I  ask,  then,  is  not  the  individual  who  sustains  the 
character  represented  in  this  description  of  the  judg- 
ment, perfectly  safe,  whatever  may  be  his  specula- 
tive belief,  even  if  this  decision  fixes  his  final  and 
everlasting  condition  ?  Is  not  the  Universalist  who 
sustains  the  character  therein  described,  just  as 
safe  as  the  believer  in  endless  misery  ?  It  is  even 
so ;  for  it  is  their  loorls,  their  actual  doings,  the 
character  they  form,  not  their  belief  which  secures 
the  approbation  of  the  Judge.  Why,  then,  is  it  not 
just  as  safe  for  pious   and    good   men    to  embra^^e 


36 


UA-IVEi:,-ALIr:T  ^5    ASSISTANT* 


Uni verbalism,  as  an}^  other  ism,  so  far  as  their  eter- 
nal interests  are  concerned  ?     I  cannot  see. 

Let  ns  now  see  why  those  on  the  other  hand 
were  condemned.  "  Then  shall  he  also  say  unto 
them  on  the  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed, 
into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels;  for  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no 
nieat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  yc  gave  me  no  drink ;  T 
was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in  ;  naked,  and 
ye  clothed  me  not  ;  sick  and  in  prison,  and  ye  vis- 
ited me  not.  Then  shall  they  also  answer  him, 
saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  or 
athirst,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison, 
and  did  not  minister  unto  thee  ?  Then  shall  he 
answer  them,  saying.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  in- 
asmuch as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of 
these,  ye  did  it  no^  to  me.  And  these  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment,'  but  the  righte- 
ous into  life  eternal.'"^* 

Hence  it  will  be  seen,  that  these  persons  were 
condemned  upon  precisely  the  same  principle,  that 
the  others  were  approved.  They  were  not  con- 
demned on  account  of  their  belief- — not  because  their 
beli?f  was  wrong — not  because  the}^  believed  toa 
much  or  too  little;  but  for  their  deeds;  for  neglect- 
ing or  refusing  to  perform  the  common  duties  of 
life — the  duties  of  kindness,  benevolence  and  char- 
ity.    The  misfortunes,  calamities  and  sufferings  of 

*Matt.  2'j:  41—46. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         37 

their  kind,  had  not  excited  their  commiseration,  or 
moved  them  to  acts  calculated  to  afford  relief  to  the 
suffering.  In  a  word,  they  were  condemned,  be- 
cause they  had  been  selfish,  unfeeling,  unpitying. 

There  are  one  or  two  things  in  this  description  of 
the  judgment,  to  which  I  wish  to  call  the  especial 
attention  of  the  reader,  although  a  digression  from 
my  main  design.  Their  importance  must  be  my 
apology. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  one  class  is  approved  and 
blessed  because  they  had  done  certain  deeds,  and 
the  other  condemned  because  they  had  not  done 
them.  Now  these  deeds  are  mentioned,  merely  to 
present  to  our  minds,  in  a  stronger  light,  the  char- 
acters of  these  two  classes  of  men.  It  was  not  so 
much  for  the  deeds  done  by  one  class,  that  they 
were  approved  and  blessed,  and  the  deeds  neglected 
to  be  done  by  the  other,  that  they  were  condemned, 
as  for  the  characters  they  sustained,  of  which  the 
deeds  done  or  neglected  are  the  representatives.  On 
no  other  supposition  can  we  explain  the  circum- 
stance, that  those  who  were  condemned,  are  charged 
with  no  positive  crimes,  no  malicious  or  positively 
wicked  feelings,  but  simply  with  a  neglect  of  duty, 
without  any  reference  to  the  motives  or  feelings 
which  dictated  them. 

When  a  judgment  is  to  be  passed  upon  men's 
actions  merely,  the  motives,  feelings  and  principles 
which  actuated  the  individual,  are  always  to  be  taken 
4 


38  universalist's  assistant. 

into  the  account ;  but  when  a  man's  character  is  the 
subject  of  inquiry,  not  only  his  positive  doings,  but 
his  neglects,  are  good  evidence  in  the  case,  espe- 
cially his  habitual  neglects.  Indeed,  these  are  more 
sure  and  positive  testimony  as  to  what  an  individu- 
al's character  is,  than  any  individual  acts  of  positive 
wrong  would  be ;  for  individual  deeds  of  positive 
wickedness,  might  be  the  effect  of  powerful  tempta- 
tion, or  strongly  excited  passion,  vrhile  there  is  no 
settled  depravity  of  heart ;  but  habitual  neglect  of 
the  common  duties  of  life,  such  as  are  named  in  the 
Scripture  just  quoted,  is  the  cool,  deliberate  and 
unprovoked  work  of  an  all-devouring  selfishness, 
which  cares  not  what  becomes  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  or  how  much  it  may  suffer,  if  so  be,  that  it 
is  not  disturbed  in  its  enjoyments.  Such  neglects 
give  the  stamp  of  certainty  to  a  man's  character,  as 
no  acts  of  positive  wrong  could  do ;  for  in  such  acts 
evidence  is  afforded,  as  to  the  feelings  and  princi- 
ples at  the  time  of  their  perpetration  only  ;  but  such 
neglect  fixes  the  seal  of  reprobation  upon  the  indi- 
vidual, not  merely  for  the  moment,  but  upon  his 
character.  It  demonstrates  what  he  is  uniformly 
and  unvaryingly,  as  a  man. 

Another  thing  that  we  should  observe,  in  this 
account,  is  the  kind  of  character  so  distinctly  brought 
out,  as  the  ground  of  man's  acceptance  or  rejection 
with  God.  It  is  what  is  and  ever  has  been  too 
lightly  esteemed  by  the  most  of  Christians  ;  so  little 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.        39 

has  it  been  valued,  that  some  have  even  sneered  at  it, 
as  mere  human  goodness,  or  natural  amiability  of 
character.  It  is  that  simple  and  unostentatious 
goodness  of  heart,  which  prompts  men  to  spontane- 
ous acts  of  kindness  and  charity ;  to  seek  to  pro- 
mote the  good  and  happiness  and  relieve  the  dis- 
tresses of  those  around  them,  without  once  thinking 
there  is  any  peculiar  merit  therein.  Hence,  when 
those  who  were  approved  and  blessed,  were  told  why, 
they  were  surprised.  They  did  not  know,  that 
they  had  done  any  such  deeds.  So  wath  those  who 
were  condemned ;  they  were  equally  ignorant  of 
their  neglect.  Thus  the  truth  is  illustrated,  that  it 
is  those  acts  about  which  men  think  the  least,  that 
are  the  truest  index  of  the  character,  and  which  con- 
tribute the  most  to  its  formation.  So  also  the  fact 
is  exhibited  in  a  striking  light,  that  what  is  done  or 
neglected  to  be  done  to  our  fellow-men,  is  regarded 
and  treated  by  the  Almighty,  as  if  done  to  himself. 
The  same  general  character  pervades  and  distin- 
guishes all  the  descriptions  of  the  judgment,  con- 
tained in  the  Scriptures.  It  nowhere  proceeds  on 
the  ground  of  a  man's  belief;  but  always  on  his 
conduct,  considered  as  the  representative  of  his 
character.  The  inquiry  is  not,  whether  he  is 
orthodox  or  heterodox ;  but  whether  he  is  good.  It 
is  not  asked  how  many  have  been  his  prayers  and 
religious  performances  ;  ^  but  whether  he  is  pos- 

*  I  would  not  be  understood  by  this  to  imply,  that  prayers 


4U  UNIVERSALIST  S    ASSISTANT. 

sessed  of  those  pure  principles,  and  that  sympathy 
with  his  kind  which  lead  him  to  spontaneous  acts  of 
kindness  and  benevolence. 

As  a  further  confirmation  of  this  position,  the  fol- 
lowing texts  are  adduced.  "  For  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  with  his 
angels ;  and  then  shall  he  reward  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works  ""^  "  Behold  I  come  quickly;  and 
my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give  to  every  man  accord- 
ing as  his  work  shall  be Blessed 

are  they  that  do  his  commandments,  that  they  may 
have  a  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in 
through  the  gates  into  the  city."t  "Marvel  not 
at  this ;  for  the  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all 
that  are  in  their  graves,  shall  hear  his  voice,  and 
shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have  do7ie  good,  unto 
the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil, 
unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation."  t- 

The  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,^  may 
serve  as  a  further  illustration  of  my  position.  The 
rich  man  was  not  sent  to  hell  to  lift  up  his  eyes  in 
torment  for  his  heresy,  nor  was  Lazarus  placed  in 
Abraham's   bosom   on   account  of  his   orthodoxy. 

and  religious  observances  are  ot  no  consequence,  or  that 
they  may  be  neglected  without  peril.  All  I  mean  to  say  is, 
that  they  are  of  no  value  as  ends.  But  as  means,  I  regard 
them  as  of  great  importance.  As  such,  they  are  indispensa- 
ble to  the  attainment  of  the  highest  Christian  excellence. 

*  Matt.  16  :  27.  t  Rev.  22  :  12,  14. 

X  John  5  :  28,  29.  ^  Luke  16  :  19—31. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.        41 

The  only  thing  brought  against  the  rich  man,  was 
his  want  of  a  proper  degree  of  attention  to  the 
wants  and  necessities  of  the  poor  and  suffering  at 
his  gate.  He  was  so  entirely  absorbed  in  securing 
his  own  selfish  gratification,  that  he  had  no  thoughts 
or  attention  to  bestow  upon  the  poor  and  suffering 
around  him.  His  very  dogs  were  more  humane, 
and  manifested  a  kindlier  interest  in  the  sufferings 
of  his  race,  than  their  master. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  manifest,  that 
admitting  these  texts  refer  to  a  final  judgment,  and 
the  eternal  condition  of  men  in  the  world  to  come, 
their  respective  states  and  conditions  do  not  depend 
upon  what  they  have  honestly  helieved  or  dishe- 
lieved ;  but  entirely  upon  what  they  are — upon 
what  they  have  done  as  an  exponent  of  what  is 
their  characters.  In  order,  then,  to  be  safe^  or  on 
the  safe  side,  what  must  we  do  ?  Must  we  believe 
certain  doctrines,  subscribe  to  certain  creeds,  or  join 
certain  churches  ?  Not  at  all.  In  this  judgment, 
sects  and  parties  are  unknown,  as  well  as  creeds 
and  dogmas  of  belief.  Doctrinal  belief  is  never 
called  in  question.  The  only  inquiry  in  regard  to 
every  individual  is — "  What  have  you  done  ?  How 
have  you  lived  ?  Have  you  been  ready  to  minister 
to  the  wants  and  necessities  of  the  needy  and  suffer- 
ing, as  your  circumstances  would  permit  ?  In  other 
words,  have  you  an  amiable  and  kind  heart j  a  pure, 
benevolent  and  good  character  ?" 

4^-  ^  .        * 


42  universalist's  assistant. 

What,  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  ? 
Plainly,  that  a  Universalist  with  these  qualifications, 
is  precisely  as  safe  as  a  believer  in  endless  misery, 
admitting  that  doctrine  true,  and  the  latter  without 
those  characteristics,  is  as  unsafe  as  the  Universal- 
ist. There  is  no  difference.  Where,  then,  is  the 
safe  side  or  the  tv^o  chances  of  the  believer  in  the 
doctrine  of  endless  punishment  ?  and  where  the 
danger  of  believing  in  Universalism,  if  these  things 
are  true  ?  The  truth  is,  be  the  views  of  Universal- 
ists  true  or  false,  they  are  just  as  safe  as  those  who 
reject  these  views,  so  far  as  their  final  and  eternal 
state  and  condition  is  concerned,  if  they  have  as 
good  hearts  and  as  pure  and  unblemished  characters^ 
of  which  their  habitual  doings  and  neglects  must  be 
the  witnesses.  The  one  has  not  the  slightest  advau'. 
tage  over  the  other,  in  this  respect. 

It  is  a  common  remark  of  the  candid  among 
those  who  do  not  believe  Universalism,  that  a  man 
who  really  believes  this  doctrine,  must  be  one  of  the 
happiest  men  in  the  world.  Now  if  this  witness  is 
true,  and  the  Universalist  who  is  an  honest  and 
true  man — a  man  who  fears  God  and  works  right- 
eousness, is  as  safe,  so  far  as  his  final  state  is  con- 
cerned, as  those  who  reject  his  views,  admitting 
the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  true,  has  he  not  a 
decided  advantage  over  the  believers  in  the  latter 
doctrine,  so  far,  at  least,  as  his  present  happiness  is 
concerned?     Instead,   therefore,    of  common   pru- 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         43 

dence  requiring  men  to  reject  Universalism  at  once, 
does  it  not  demand,  that  so  far  as  relates  to  their 
present  happiness,  they  should  eschew  the  opposite  ? 
Does  it  not  demand,  that  men  should  endeavor  to 
convince  their  minds,  that  Universalism  is  true,  let 
the  fact  be  as  it  may,  rather  than  fear  to  receive  it, 
or  reject  it  without  examination  ?     It  surely  is  so. 


SECTION    II. THE    SAFEST    SIDE. 

In  the  last  section,  it  was  my  object  to  show,  that 
even  admitting  the  doctrine  of  endless  suffering 
trae,  the  Universalist  is  just  as  safe,  other  things 
being  equal,  as  the  believer  of  that  doctrine. 

Let  it  not  be  inferred,  from  this,  that  belief  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  small  importance.  It  is 
of  the  very  highest  importance ;  for  it  is  the  founda- 
tion of  all  correct  moral  action ;  it  is  vrhat  distin- 
guishes the  Christian  from  the  Infidel ;  and  it  exerts 
a  great  and  abiding  influence  upon  men's  feelings, 
dispositions,  principles  and  conduct.  The  influence 
it  exerts  upon  any  individual's  character,  must 
depend  upon  the  prominence  it  holds  in  his  mind. 
If  it  absorbs  all  the  powers  and  faculties  of  his 
soul,  it  will  become  a  ruling  principle  within  him, 
and  his  character  will  become  an  exact  embody- 
ment  of  his  inward  faith.     Bat  however  loosely  a 


44  universalist's  assistant. 

man  may  hold  his  belief,  it  will  exert  some  influ- 
ence in  the  formation  of  his  character,  eithei  for 
good  or  for  evil.  I  know,  indeed,  that  few  men 
who  adopt  a  good  faith,  ever  become  so  good  as 
their  faith  is ;  and  equally  true  is  it,  that  few  men 
professing  a  had  faith,  become  as  bad  as  their  creed  is. 
The  good  influences  of  society,  and  the  redeeming 
qualities  of  human  nature,  hold  them  back,  so  that 
they  are  afraid  or  ashamed  to  do  as  bad  as  is  the 
promptings  of  their  unhallowed  faith.  But  in  spite 
of  all  internal  and  external  influences,  belief  will  do 
much  in  giving  a  determination  to  human  character 
— vastly  more  than  most  persons  imagine.  A  good 
faith  contributes  to  the  formation  of  a  good  char- 
acter ;  and  a  bad  faith  will  tend  to  form  a  bad  char- 
acter, however  its  influence  may  be  modified  by 
public  sentiment,  and  the  individual's  sense  of  pro- 
priety. Hence  that  belief  must  be  the  safest,  which 
has  the  strongest  and  most  powerful  tendency  to 
secure  the  formation  of  such  a  character,  as  the 
gospel  demands ;  and  it  is  my  purpose  to  show  that 
Universalism  is  that  belief. 

The  Saviour  has  reduced  the  whole  of  human 
duty  to  two  requirements,  which  are  the  original 
elements  of  all  correct  moral  action,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the 
first  and  great  commandment.  And  the  second  is 
like  unto  it ;  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy* 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         45 

self.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the 
law  and  the  prophets."  ^"^ 

These  are  the  principles  from  which  must  flow 
those  good  works,  that  secure  the  approbation  of 
Heaven.  And  the  man  who  is  governed  in  all  his 
ways  hy  these  principles,  is  perfectly  safe,  for  time, 
and  for  eternity,  be  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punish- 
ment true  or  false.  It  can  make  no  difference. 
Nor  can  it  make  any  difference  whether  he  believes 
or  disbelieves  it,  if  he  really  sustains  such  a  char- 
acter. The  only  difference  it  can  make  with  any 
person,  is  its  favorable  or  unfavorable  tendencies 
upon  the  character.  Which  of  the  two  doctrines 
under  consideration,  has  the  greatest  tendency  to 
form  the  character  required  by  the  gospel  ? 

In  reply,  I  remark,  that  it  is  a  law  founded  in  the 
nature  and  constitution  of  things,  that  like  shall 
produce  like.  It  is  a  law  that  obtains  in  the  moral 
as  well  as  in  the  physicLil  world.  Love  will  beget 
love,  and  hatred  will  beget  hatred.  Hence  the  pos- 
session of  such  affections  and  principles  as  are 
demanded  by  the  Saviour,  must  greatly  depend  upon 
the  views  that  are  entertained  of  the  Divine  charac- 
ter, as  unfolded  in  the  plans  and  purposes  of  God, 
and  the  nature  of  man.  Hence  it  is  necessary  that 
we  discover  something  lovely  in  an  object  or  an 
individual,  that  our  affections  may  be  secured. 
That  we  may  love  God,  we  must  see  something  in 

*Matt.  22:  37- -39. 


46  universalist's  assistant. 

his  character,  as  manifested  in  his  plans,  purpo- 
ses and  works,  which  renders  him  lovely.  So 
in  regard  to  man.  We  must  be  able  to  discover 
something  in  him,  as  the  workmanship  of  God, 
that  can  claim  our  attachment,  or  we  cannot  love 
our  neighbor.  Consequently  the  doctrine  that  pre- 
sents the  most  that  is  lovely  in  the  Divine  character, 
and  the  most  attractive  views  of  human  nature, 
must  be  the  safest  doctrine  to  be  received  by  men, 
even  admitting  eternal  consequences  are  attached 
to  our  doings.  Which  of  the  two  doctrines  under 
consideration  does  this  ? 

Before  we  can  return  an  answer  to  this  question, 
it  is  necessary  for  us  to  take  a  view  of  the  character 
which  ea^h  ascribes  to  the  Deity.  I  will  take  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  first,  and  will  pre- 
sent the  matter  in  the  language  of  a  believer  of  this 
terrible  doctrine.  "The  G  \  that  holds  you  over 
the  pit  of  hell,  much  as  one  holds  a  spider,  or  some 
loathsome  insect,  over  the  fire,  abhors  you,  and  is 
dreadfully  provoked ;  his  wrath  towards  you,  burns 
like  fire ;  he  looks  upon  you  as  worthy  of  nothing 
else,  but  to  be  cast  into  the  fire ;  he  is  of  purer  eyes 
than  to  bear  to  have  you  in  his  sight ;  you  are 
ten  thousand  times  more  abominable  in  his  eyes, 
than  the  most  hateful  and  venomous  serpent  is  in 
ours."  "^ 

"  If  he  eternally  hates  you,  he  will  act  in  his 

*  Edwards'  Works,  Vol.  7,  p.  496. 


BIISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         47 

dealings  with  you,  as  one  that  hates  you  with  mere 
hatred,  without  any  love  or  pity.  The  proper 
tendenc}^  and  aim  of  hatred  is,  the  misery  of  the 
object  hated ;  misery  and  nothing  else.  So  that 
you  may  expect  God  will  make  you  miserable,  and 
that  you  will  not  be  spared ;  for  sparing  is  not  the 
elTect  of  hatred,  but  of  pity  and  mercy,  which  is 
quite  a  different  thing  from  enmity.''^ 

Such  is  the  representation  of  the  Divine  character 
by  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  and  is  there  any- 
thing in  it  that  is  lovely?  Is  it  a  representation 
calculated  to  excite  our  admiration,  or  call  forth  our 
affections  ?  Surely  not.  But  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  revolting  to  the  very  last  degree,  in  the  view  of 
every  pure  and  good  mind  and  heart.  Men  may 
fear  to  express  it,  or  even  confess  the  truth  to  their 
own  minds  ;  but  they  can  have  no  other  feelings 
than  those  of  dislike  and  abhorrence  of  such  a 
character.  Such  vievrs  cannot  excite  reverence, 
gratitude  and  love  in  any  soul,  however  it  may 
paralyze  it  with  terror.  All  the  dark  and  appalling 
views  of  God's  character,  presented  by  this  terrible 
doctrine,  can  do,  is  to  petrify  with  terror,  and  fill 
men's  minds  with  amazement,  and  their  hearts 
with  dread,  to  subdue  the  soul,  fasten  upon  it  the 
chains  of  slavery,  and  extort  from  the  individual,  a 
pretence,  a  profession  of  love,  to  escape  impending 
vengeance,  but  it  will  be  all  pretence.     The  feeling 

*  Edwards'  \Vorks,  Vol.  7,  p.  201. 


48  UNIVEIISALISX'S    ASSISTANT. 

cannot  be  there.  As  well  might  they  be  called 
upon  to  love  the  hateful  hyena,  whose  hideous  jaws 
are  besmeared  with  a  brother's  blood  ? 

Beside  this,  if  like  begets  like,  what  effect  must 
the  contemplation  of  such  a  character  have  upon 
the  individual  that  worships  it?  Must  it  not  tend 
to  form  the  same  character  in  him  ?  Will  it  not 
lead  to  the  cultivation  of  the  same  temper  and  dis- 
positions as  are  exhibited  in  his  ideal  of  perfection, 
which  is  always  embodied  in  the  object  of  worship  ? 
The  history  of  the  world  shows  that  it  is  so."^^  Let 
any  man  copy,  in  the  temper  of  his  mind  and  the 
feelings  of  his  heart,  the  character  ascribed  to  God, 
by  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  in  the  above 
extracts,  and  carry  them  out  in  his  dealings  and 
intercourse  with  mankind,  so  far  as  his  capabilities 
and  circumstances  will  permit,  and  would  it  be  safe 
either  for  the  individual  or  the  community  ? 

The  religious  world  once  undertook  to  copy  the 
example  of  the  Almighty,  as  he  is  represented  by 
this  doctrine,  and  it  gave  birth  to  the  Inquisition, 
that  most  infernal  of  all  the  engines  of  mischief 
ever  invented  by  man.  And  in  so  far  as  men  have 
ever  attempted  to  carry  the  principles  and  spirit  of 
this  doctrine  into  their  intercourse  with  each  other 
and  the  government  of  society,  they  have  brought 
misery,  degradation  and  ruin  upon  the  world,  and 
drenched  the  earth  in  blood.     Is  the  belief  of  such 

*Univqrsahst  Quarterly.  Vol.  1.,  p.  256.  Art.  24. 


MICELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.  49 

a  doctrine  safe  ?  It  cannot  be  ;  for  if  the  evil,  cruel 
and  diabolical  things  that  have  grown  out  of  its 
belief,  and  the  attempts  of  men  to  carry  its  princi- 
ples into  practice  in  human  society,  are  subject  to 
the  same  reprobation  as  other  evil  deeds,  and  the 
doctrine  itself  proves  true,  no  men  are  more  cer- 
tainly sealed  victims  of  eternal  torments,  than  vast 
multitudes  of  its  most  sincere  believers  and  staunch 
defenders,  and  that,  too,  on  account  of  endeavoring  to 
practise  in  conformity  with  iheir  faith !  What  can 
be  more  unsafe,  than  the  belief  of  such  a  doctrine  J 
Surely  nothing  ;  for  it  not  only  interposes  an  insu- 
perable barrier  against  complying  with  the  first  great 
command,  but  leads  men  to  form  characters,  which 
must  secure  their  condemnation  ! 

Equally  unfortunate  are  the  tendencies  of  this 
doctrine,  in  relation  to  the  second  great  command- 
ment. It  presents  the  most  dark  and  repulsive 
views  of  human  nature.  It  describes  men  as  "  ut- 
terly indisposed,  disabled,  and  made  opposite  to  all 
good,  and  wholly  inclined  to  all  evil,"^  so  that 
although  they  "  may  have  spoken  the  language  of 
kindness  to  their  friends,  given  useful  instruction  to 
their  children,  salutary  advice  to  their  neighbors;  " 
although  they  "  may  have  fed  the  hungry,  clothed 
the  naked,  and  attended,  with  decency,  the  public 

*  Cambridge  and  Saybrook  Platform,  Confession  of  Faith, 
ch.  6,  ^  4. 


50 


UNIVERSALIST  S    ASSISTANT. 


worship  of  God,  these  same  actions  are  all  sinful ;" 
so  that  "  every  thought,  every  train  of  reasoning, 
every  conclusion,  every  imagination  of  the  heart, 
and  every  purpose  of  the  understanding,  has  been 
evil,  and  only  evil,  and  that  continually.'"^  This 
while  they  are  unregenerate. 

Let  any  man  entertain  such  views  of  his  race, 
and  what  must  be  the  effect  upon  his  mind  and 
feelings  ?  Must  it  not  be  to  make  him  distrust  all 
men ;  to  make  him  regard  all  goodness  and  virtue 
as  shallow  and  insincere,  unless  accompanied  with 
some  sectarian  badge  ;  to  make  him  narrow  and 
exclusive  in  his  views  and  feelings ;  and  to  harden 
his  heart  against  his  race  ?  How  can  any  man,  who 
regards  the  great  mass  of  mankind  utterly  desti 
tute  of  all  goodness,  the  enemies  of  God  and  all 
good,  from  their  very  natures,  however  aimable  in 
their  external  conduct,  and  eminently  virtuous  in 
all  their  ways ;  who  regards  them  as  fiends  in 
human  shape  ;  minions  of  satan,  clothed  in  gar- 
ments of  light,  have  any  love  for  themi  ?  He  surely 
ought  not  to  love  them.  It  is  a  virtue  to  hate  man- 
kind, as  one  would  satan  himself,  if  such  is  their 
character.  So  that  this  doctrine  interposes  a  pow- 
erful barrier  against  a  compliance  with  the  second 
great  commandment. 

There  is  still  another  way  in  which  this  doctrine 


*  National  Preacher.   Vol.   4,  p.  222.    No.  for  August, 
1829. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         51 

operates  against  the  formation  of  such  a  character, 
as  the  gospel  demands.  It  describes  all  the  demands 
and  duties  of  religion,  so  far  as  relates  to  their 
character  in  the  sight  of  God,  in  such  dark  and 
dubious  terms,  that  no  human  understanding  can 
apprehend  them.  It  thickly  spreads  darkness  and 
obscurity  over  the  whole  duty  of  man,  and  then 
calls  upon  him  to  engage  in  its  performance,  under 
the  penalty  of  everlasting  destruction  !  It  hedges 
up  the  way  of  life  with  impenetrable  darkness,  and 
then  calls  upon  men  to  escape  from  impending 
vengeance  !  If  they  complain  that  they  cannot  un- 
derstand its  directions,  nor  see  the  way  it  describes, 
it  mocks  them  with  the  declaration,  that  they  are 
not  expected  to  see  or  understand,  because  their 
spiritual  eyes  have  not  been  opened,  and  their 
understandings  are  yet  carnal !  In  other  words,  it 
demands  of  men  that  they  shall  do,  without  under- 
standing, and  walk,  with  a  firm  and  undeviating 
step,  without  seeing !  Thus  does  it  fill  men's 
minds  with  hesitancy  and  doubt.  They  fear  to  go 
forward,  lest  they  should  go  wrong  ;  to  go  back- 
ward, lest  they  should  stumble  ;  to  go  to  the  right 
hand,  lest  they  should  enter  the  wrong  path  ;  and 
to  go  to  the  left,  lest  they  should  fall  under  the  gui- 
dance of  an  evil  spirit.  Thus  men  are  kept  in 
suspense,  Vv-aiting  for  they  know  not  what,  or  make 
a  desperate  plunge  into  the  sea  of  passion  and  sin, 
trusting  to  some  miracle  to  rescue  and  save  them, 


52  universalist's  assistant. 

instead  of  using  their  own  powers  to  work  out  their 
own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling.  Is  the 
behef  of  such  a  doctrine  safe?  Nay,  instead  of 
being  safe,  it  is  perilous  to  men's  souls,  and  should 
be  avoided  as  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  dark- 
ness and  wasteth  at  noon-day. 

Let  us  now  look  at  Universalis m,  and  see  if  it 
has  an}'-  better  tendency.  It  clothes  the  divine 
character  in  all  the  beauty  and  excellence  of  a 
father's  love.  It  echoes  the  voice  of  nature  and 
revelation,  in  proclaiming  that  God  is  good  unto  all, 
and  his  tender  mercies  over  all  his  works  ;^  that 
as  a  father  pities  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pities  his 
erring  offspring  ;t  that  he  is  kind  to  the  unthankful 
and  the  evil  ;$  that  he  doth  not  afflict  willingly  nor 
grieve  the  children  of  men  ;^  and  that  all  the  suf- 
ferings he  sends  upon  men,  are  sent  that  they  may 
become  partakers  in  his  holiness. II 

Now,  what  can  be  better  calculated  to  attract  and 
secure  the  affections  of  rational  beings,  than  such  a 
character  as  this,  and  thus  secure  obedience  to  the 
first  great  command  ?  It  is  in  perfect  conformity 
with  our  highest  ideas  of  excellence.  It  is  not  an 
effeminate  kindness  which  yields  the  right  and  the 
true  to  its  own  v/eakness ;  but  that  kindness  which 
is  tempered  with  the  dignity  and  energy  of  truth 
and  right ;  which,  while  it   pities  and  relieves,  is 

*  Ps.  145  :  9.         t  Ps.  103  :  13.         %  Luke  6  :  35. 
^Lam.  3:  33.        H  Heb.  10:  12. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  S3 

firm  and  unyielding  in  its  attachments  to  justice 
and  rectitude.  If  such  a  character  will  not  call 
forth  the  admiration,  the  gratitude,  the  reverence, 
and  the  love  of  rational  beings,  nothing  can.  And 
then,  if  lilce  begets  like,  how  perfectly  is  it  adapted 
to  the  formation  of  precisely  such  a  character  in 
man,  as  the  gospel  demands  !  It  is  itself  the  per- 
fection of  what  the  religion  of  Jesus  designs  to 
make  man  ;  and  if  it  begets  its  own  image  in  the 
human  soul,  man  will  be  precisely  what  the  Scrip- 
tures represent  as  securing  God's  approbation. 

And  then,  in  regard  to  man,  Universalism  teaches 
such  views  of  his  nature,  as  are  calculated  to  secure 
a  compliance  with  the  second  great  commandment. 
Like  the  Scriptures,  it  represents  that  all  men  are 
made  of  one  blood,^'  and  have  the  same  Father  ;t 
that  all  have  the  same  germ  of  immortality,  destin- 
ed to^  bloom  in  unfading  beauty  ;t  that  all  are  fed 
by  the  same  munificent  hand  ;§  upheld  by  the  same 
kind  providence  ;ll  dependent  upon  the  same  good- 
ness both  for  time  and  eternity  ;1[  that  all  are  des- 
tined to  the  same  final  home,  and  the  participation 
of  the  same  joys  forever.^"^  It  calls  upon  men  to 
love  God,  because  he  first  loves  them  ;tt  to  love 
mankind,  because  he  loves  them,  and  sent  his  son 
to  die  for  their  redemption  ;lt  and  because  "  there 

*  Acts  17  :  2(3.  t  Mai.  2  :  10.  fl  Tim.  4  :  10. 

^  Acts  17  :  25.  II  Ps.  145  :  14.  ^  Tit.  3  :  5. 

**  Eccl.  2  :  14.  ft  1  John  4  :  19. 

tt  1  Thes.  5  :  10.  2  Cor.  5  :  14. 


54  universalist's  assistant. 

is  more  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repent- 
eth,  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons,  who 
need  no  repentance."^ 

If  we  look  upon  our  race  in  such  a  light  as  this, 
we  can  discover  something  in  every  individual, 
however  much  it  may  be  obscured  by  sin,  worthy 
of  our  affections.  However  much  the  fine  gold 
may  become  dimmed,  or  deeply  it  may  be  buried 
in  earth  or  dross,  it  is  gold  still.  Its  nature  remains 
unchanged.  With  such  views,  whenever  we  see  the 
form  of  a  man,  however  much  it  may  be  marred  and 
disfigured  by  intemperance  and  sin,  we  know  the 
principles  and  elements  of  a  man  are  still  there. 
We  know  he  has  a  nature  like  our  own,  susceptible 
of  the  same  improvement  and  elevation.  We  know 
he  is  a  brother,  a  child  of  the  same  Father.  He 
has  fallen  among  robbers,  who  have  stripped  him 
of  his  dignity  and  glory,  and  left  him  half  dead. 
Only  let  him  be  washed  and  cleansed,  and  his 
wounds  and  bruises  healed,  and  he  will  again  stand 
forth  a  man,  made  in  God's  own  image. 

What  can  be  better  calculated  to  secure  obedi- 
ence to  the  second  great  commandment,  than  such 
views  as  these  ?  What  can  be  better  calculated  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  men  for  each  other,  and 
secure  those  kind  and  generous  sympathies,  de- 
manded by  the  Saviour?  How  can  any  man 
entertain  such  views,  if  they  are  active  principles 

*•  Lukp  15:7. 


MISCELLANEOUS   OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  55 

in  his  soul,  without  being  inspired  with  new  interest 
in  his  race,  and  being  led  to  feed  the  hungry, 
clothe  the  naked,  and  visit  the  sick  and  imprisoned  ? 
It  is  impossible.  And  these  are  the  very  character- 
istics for  which  men  are  approved  and  blessed,  by 
our  religion,  and  for  the  want  of  which  they  are 
condemned  and  punished. 

And  nov*r  I  put  the  question  to  every  serious  and 
reflecting  mJnd — which  of  these  doctrines,  in  your 
sober  and  candid  judgment,  is  the  best  calculated 
to  form  such  a  character  as  the  gospel  demands  ; 
the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  with  its  appalling 
views  of  God's  character,  and  its  dark  and  repulsive 
viev/s  of  human  nature,  or  Universalism,  with  its 
high  conceptions  of  the  Divine  character,  so  congenial 
with  our  highest  notions  and  most  exalted  conceptions 
of  greatness  and  goodness,  and  its  interesting  and 
lovely  representations  of  man's  nature  ?  Which 
addresses  itself  the  most  strongly  to  our  reason  and 
conscience,  and  is  the  best  adapted  to  call  forth 
those  feehngs,  and  induce  the  formation  of  that 
character,  which  the  Bible  demands  ?  Which  is 
the  best  adapted  to  the  production  of  those  amiable 
and  kind  sentiments  and  feelings  required  of  the 
Christian,  so  far  as  it  may  exert  any  influence  over 
human  character  ? 

There  can  be  but  one  answer  from  any  intelli- 
gent, reflecting  and  candid  person.  Such  a  person 
must  not  only  see,  but  feel,  that  Universalism,  so  far 


56  universalist's  assistant. 

as  it  exerts  any  influence  over  the  minds,  hearts 
and  lives  of  men,  is  the  best  calculated  to  form  that 
generous,  disinterested  and  amiable  character  Chris- 
tianity requires.  This  position  might  be  verified 
by  an  appeal  to  facts,  as  they  lie  about  us  in  society. 
But  it  is  unnecessary. 

Suppose  we  admit  then,  for  the  sake  of  the  argu- 
ment, that  men's  eternal  state  will  be  determined 
by  the  character  they  form  in  this  life,  and  which 
they  are  found  to  sustain  at  the  judgment,  and  that 
such  a  character  is  necessary  to  secure  the  approba- 
tion and  blessing  of  the  Most  High,  as  is  described 
in  the  texts  quoted  on  a  previous  page;  which 
doctrine  is  the  safest  to  believe,  were  belief  a  matter 
of  choice?  Plainly  and  obviously  Universalism. 
Why  ?  Simply  because  it  has  the  most  powerful 
tendency  to  secure  those  virtues  which  Heaven 
approves  and  blesses. 

With  all  this  before  us,  we  must  conclude  that 
the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  is  an  exceedingly 
unsafe  doctrine  to  be  believed,  even  if  it  is  true  ; 
for  it  not  only  brings  ruin  upon  men's  moral  inter- 
ests, and  destruction  to  their  happiness  here,  but  by 
its  unfavorable  influences,  jeopardizes  their  eternal 
happiness  hereafter. 

The  truth  is,  so  far  as  belief  is  concerned,  man's 
only  safety  lies  in  his  seeking  to  attain  those  views 
of  the  Divine  character,  and  of  human  nature,  cal- 
culated to  exert  the  most  hooUhful  moral  influences 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         57 

over  his  mind  and  heart.  And  I  think  it  has  been 
shown,  that  Universahsm  is  the  belief,  which  affords 
these  influences,  in  a  degree  far  above  its  opposite, 
leaving  the  question  of  its  truth  unsettled.  If  such 
be  the  case,  it  must  be  the  safest  to  adopt,  even 
though  it  prove  false.  But  to  suppose  a  doctrine 
capable  of  exerting  such  an  influence /aZ^e,  is  a  very- 
great  absurdity.  It  would  be  maintaining,  that  the 
influence  of  falsehood,  is  better  than  that  of  truth. 
The  fact  is,  the  very  circumstance,  that  Universal- 
ism  has  this  superior  moral  tendency,  is  a  very 
powerful  argument  for  its  truth. 

In  the  light  of  all  this,  I  submit  to  the  reader  to 
determine  how  much  truth  there  is  in  the  following 
remarks  : — "  If  Universalists  are  in  the  right,  we 
who  believe  in  a  doctrine  very  different  from  theirs, 
are  nevertheless  just  as  safe  as  they.  We  need  not 
concern  ourselves  to  examine  whether  we  are  in 
the  right  or  in  the  wrong  as  to  opinion,  since  there 
can  be  no  difTerence  in  the  result.'"^ 

*  Staart's  Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  151—2.  It  is  truly  humiliat- 
ing to  see  such  remarks  as  these,  from  such  a  source  ;  for 
it  betrays  a  state  of  mind,  little  in  accordance  with  what  we 
have  a  right  to  expect. 


58  universalist's  assistant. 


SECTION  III. — CHRIST  AND  HIS  APOSTLES  INCOMPETENT 
TEACHERS. 


"I  fear  to  embrace  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation, 
because  it  v/ould  oblige  me  to  regard  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles as  incompetent  or  dishonest  teachers  of  religion,  and 
the  Bible  itself  as  fitted  and  designed  to  lead  men  into 
error.* 


This  objection  is  founded  upon  the  idea,  "  that 
the  Christian  Scriptures  were  written  for  the 
express  purpose  of  teaching  the  salvation  of  all 
men;t  "that,  by  himself  or  his  apostles,  Jesus 
Christ  opposed  every  essential  rehgious  error  of  his 
age  and  country,  in  the  most  explicit,  direct  and 
positive  terms  ;"1^  and  consequently,  "  the  doctrine 
of  universal  salvation,  if  it  were  true,  being  a  doc- 
trine never  before  heard  of,  he  would  have  formally, 
fully,  and  repeatedly  announced,  explained,  and 
enforced  it."§ 

Now  the  idea  here  set  forth,  is  most  manifestly 
false,  and  is  one  which  no  well-informed,  serious 
and  candid  mind  ever  entertained,  among  the 
believers  of  Universalism.  Had  it  have  been  the 
purpose  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  to 
have  explained  and  enforced  a  system  of  dogmatic 
theology,  no  one  can  doubt,  that  every  point  would 

*  Tract,  No.  22 1,  p.  2.  f  Do.  p.  3. 

:|:  Royce's  Lectures,  p.  34.  §  Do.  p.  35. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         59 

have  been  so  clearly  defined  and  unequivocally 
expressed,  that  there  should  have  been  no  room  for 
mistake,  among  serious  and  candid  people.  Had 
such  have  been  their  design,  there  would  have  been 
as  httle  room  for  misapprehension  as  to  the  doc- 
trines taught  in  the  Bible,  as  there  is  in  reference 
to  those  contained  in  the  Westminster  Catechism, 
or  the  Cambridge  and  Saybrook  Platform.  But  it 
is  not  so.  It  is  not  true  either  that  Christ  or  the 
apostles  directly  opposed  "  every  essential  religious 
error  of  his  age  and  country  ;"  or  that  the  New 
Testament  was  "  written  for  the  express  purpose  of 
teaching  the  salvation  of  all  men,"  nor  indeed  any 
other  one  doctrine.  They  had  higher  aims  and 
ends  in  view,  than  to  establish  a  dry  and  barren 
system  of  dogmatic  theology — to  teach  men  how 
they  might  attain  their  own  salvation. 

The  truth  is,  there  were  many  errors  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  age  and  country  in  which  Jesus  and 
his  apostles  lived,  and  very  serious  ones  too,  even 
in  theology,  with  which  they  have  not  meddled. 
I  will  name  but  one — the  doctrine  of  man's  exist- 
ence after  the  dissolution  of  the  material  body — 
the  manner  of  attaining  it.  The  common  doctrine 
of  the  Jews  of  those  times,  who  believed  in  future 
existence  at  all,  was  that  of  the  transmigration  of 
souls.  Hence  an  eminent  writer  says,  "  that  this 
Pythagorian  dogma  was  become  pretty  general 
among  the  Jews,  appears  from  some  passages  in 


60  universalist's  assistant. 

the  gospels."^  That  this  was  an  error,  no  one  in 
a  Christian  land  doubts,  and  what  was  the  course 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles  in  reference  to  it  ?  Did 
they  oppose  it  in  direct  and  explicit  terms,  even  in 
a  single  instance  ?  No.  So  far  from  correcting 
this  error,  they  adopted  the  very  same  wordt  to 
represent  a  future  existence  for  man,  as  was  com- 
monly used  by  the  Jews,  for  this  purpose.  Indeed, 
one  apostle  goes  so  far  as  to  declare — "  I  am  a 
Pharisee,  the  son  of  a  Pharisee,  of  tlie  hope  of  the 
resurrection^  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question. "I 
"  And  have  hope  toward  God,  which  they  them- 
selves also  allow,  that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection^ 
of  the  dead,  both  of  the  just  and  unjust. "'i*  Why 
this  course,  in  regard  to  this  error,  when  Jesus  cor- 
rected another  errorl!  held  in  connexion  with  the 
doctrine  of  future  existence  ?  Shall  we  infer  from 
this,  that  "  Christ  and  his  apostles  were  incompe- 
tent or  dishonest  teachers  of  religion,  and  the  Bible 
itself  fitted  and  designed  to  lead  men  into  error  ? " 

*  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Prelim.  Dissertations,  Dis. 
VI.,  Ft.  2,  ^  19.  See  also  Dr.  A.  Clarke's  Com.  on  John  9 : 
2,     Also  Whitby,  Barnes,  and  Livermore  in  loco. 

t  '^ju(Tr«(T/c  "  denotes  simpl}^,  being  raised  from  inactivity 
to  action,  or  from  obscurity  to  eminence,  or  a  return  to 
such  a  state,  after  an  interruption.  ...  In  this  view, 
when  applied  to  the  dead,  the  word  denotes,  properly,  no 
more  than  a  renewal  of  life,  to  them,  in  whatever  manner 
this  may  happen." — Campbell's  Note  on  Matt.  22  :  23. 

X  Acts  23  :  6.  ^  Do.  24  :  15. 

II  That  is,  the  idea  that  the  same  relations  exist  in  a 
future  state  as  in  this.     Matt.  22  :  30. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         61 

The  fact  is,  the  Bible  was  not  written  for  the 
express  purpose  of  teaching  Universalism  or  any- 
other  ism;  but  to  inculcate  great  and  universal 
principles'^ — principles  which  lay  at  the  foundation 
of  all  theoretical  religious  truth ;  to  renovate  and 
correct  the  spirit  and  tendencies  of  that  age ;  to 
explain  the  icay  of  salvation  ;  and  to  introduce  men 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Hence  they  left  all 
errors  to  be  corrected  by  the  silent  influences  of 
these  great  principles,  except  such  as  interposed  a 
barrier  to  the  reception  of  these  principles,  and  the 
attainment  of  those  great  ends.  Hence  many  and 
very  great  errors  were  permitted  to  pass  unnoticed 
by  them.t 

Making  out  a  system  of  behef  from  the  Bible,  is 
precisely  like  an  attempt  to  determine  an  individ- 
ual's belief,  upon  all  points  in  theology,  from  a  vol- 
ume made  up  of  letters,  poetry,  biography,  sketches 
of  discourses,  and  conversations  on  practical  and 
experimental  religion.  Here  and  there  we  shall 
find  his  views  expressed  upon  some  one  or  more 

*  '■'  Jesus  seized  those  fundamental  principles  which  were 
current  among  his  countrj'men,  discarded  ever^'thing  which 
had  merely  a  local,  civil  or  national  reference  ;  selected  the 
purely  moral,  refined  and  elevated  it  to  its  true  dignity,  and 
rendered  it  complete  by  supplying  its  deficiencies." — Hug's 
Intro,  to  N.  T.,  p.  11.     Andover,  1S36. 

t  Among  these  may  be  named  demoniacal  possessions, 
and  the  supernatural  influences  of  Python,  a  heathen  god. 
Acts  16 :  1(5,  where  a  .girl  is  said  to  be  possessed  with 
Tirsviia  IIi'-ditivoQ,  a  spirit  of  Python. 

6 


62 


IJNIVEKSALIST  S  ASSISTANT. 


doctrinal  point,  as  the  foundation  or  stimulant  to 
some  duty,  or  to  correct  the  error  of  some  one  with 
whom  he  might  be  conversing.  By  picking  out 
and  bringing  together  these  scattered  fragments,  we 
may  be  able  to  make  out  his  sj'stem  of  theology. 
So  with  the  Bible.  A  system  of  doctrines  is 
nowhere  formally  stated  and  discussed.  Hence  the 
great  diversity  of  opinions  for  which  the  Bible  is 
made  responsible,  while  all  are  equally  honest. 
One  man  sees  one  part,  and  another  a  diiTerent  part. 
One  individual  looks  at  a  statement  from  one  point 
of  view,  and  another  views  the  same  thing  from  a 
different  position,  and  consequently  comes  to  a  dif- 
ferent, and  it  may  be  a  Vvddely  different,  conclusion. 

From  the  statements  and  reasoning  already  pre- 
sented, it  is  sufiicient]y  manifest,  that  the  idea  upon 
which  the  objection  is  founded,  is  incorrect,  and  of 
course  the  objection  is  without  force,  and  v,'e  might 
leave  it  here  ;  but  there  are  several  other  consider- 
ations, which  I  wish  to  have  observed ;  and  to  this 
end  all  that  has  been  said  may  pass  as  irrelevant. 

1.  This  objection  lies  with  far  greater  force 
against  Christianity  itself  than  it  does  against 
TJniversalism. 

Let  any  one  take  the  Old  Testament  and  read 
the  representations  of  the  character  and  dignity  of 
the  promised  Messiah,  as  portrayed  by  the  Hebrew 
bards,  by  whom  he  is  represented  as  a  great  king, 
and  a  mighty  conqueror,  going  forth  and  subduing 


MISCELLANEOUS   OBJECTIONS   CONSIDERED.  63 

nations  and  Ivingdoms,  and  bringing  them  under 
his  dominion.  With,  these  glowing  descriptions 
before  him,  let  him  look  at  the  individual  who 
came  among  the  Jews,  claiming  to  be  the  Messiah, 
and  which  we  Christians  believe  to  be  such,  as  he 
is  represented  by  his  own  friends  ;  and  what  is 
there  in  his  appearance  or  doings,  to  answer  to 
those  glowing  descriptions  ?  He  had  no  hereditary 
titles,  power  or  authority.  He  v/as  a  humble 
mechanic,  clad  in  the  common  apparel  of  his  pro- 
fession, and  wandering  about  his  native  country, 
attended  by  a  few  individuals,  as  hum.ble  in  their 
pretensions  as  himself,  called  from  the  publican's 
seat,  and  their  fishing  nets,  without  a  place  where 
to  lay  their  heads  !  Instead  of  being  surrounded 
with  the  pomp  and  splendor  of  courts,  and  engaged 
in  raising  and  appointing  armies,  he  v/as  dining  at 
the  publican's  table,  or  r^'anding  on  a  vessel's  deck, 
surrounded  with  the  degr.;ded  and  outcast  of  society, 
instructing  their  ignorance,  healing  their  diseases, 
reclaiming  them  from  their  vices,  and  telling  them 
to  go  and  sin  no  more  ;  comforting  the  afflicted, 
encouraging  the  desponding,  and  rsstoring  the 
maniac  to  soundness  of  mind,  while  he  hurled  the 
most  terrible  denunciations  at  those  who  were  sup- 
posed to  be  the  only  suitable  associates  of  so  distin- 
guished a  personage.  We  can  hardly  conceive  of 
a  character  more  entirely  opposite  to  that  described 
^he  prophets,  when  those  descriptions  are  taken 


64  universalist's  assistant. 

literally,  than  was  that  of  Jesus.  Might  not  a 
pious  Jew,  with  his  hands  upon  the  books  of  the 
prophets,  exclaim  with  far  greater  force  and  pro- 
priety, "  I  fear  to  believe  this  man  the  Messiah, 
because  it  would  oblige  me  to  regard  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  as  incompetent  or  dishonest  teachers 
of  religion,  and  the  Bible  itself  as  fitted  and 
designed  to  lead  men  into  error  ?  "  It  is  even  so  ; 
and  this  was  the  very  ground,  upon  which  the 
Jews  rejected  Jesus.  Let  the  objector  see  to  it, 
that  he  does  not  fall  into  the  same  condemnation ! 

2.  This  objection  lays  ivith  far  greater  force 
against  some  of  the  distinguishing  features  of 
Protestantism,  than  if  does  against  Universalism. 

I  will  notice  but  one  instance,  and  that  is  the 
doctrine,  that  the  elements  used  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, by  consecration,  are  transmuted  into  the  real, 
veritable,  bona  fide  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus.  The 
follov.'ing  language  certainly  comes  much  nearer 
expressing  this  idea  in  unequivocal  terms,  than  any- 
thing in  the  Bible  does  the  doctrine  of  endless 
misery.  "  Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed,  and 
brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  them.,  and  said.  Take,  eat ; 
this  is  my  body.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and  when 
he  had  given  thanks,  he  gave  it  to  them ;  and  they 
all  drank  of  it.  And  he  said  unto  them,  this  is  my 
blood  of  the  Nev/  Testament,  which  is  shed  for 
many."^     "  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Verily, 

*  Mark  14  :  22,  25. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDEF.ED.  65 

verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of 
the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no 
life  in  you."=^     With  such  language  as  this  before 
him,  may  not  the  Catholic,  v/ith  his  hands  upon 
the  Gospels,  exclaim — "  I  fear  to  embrace  Protest- 
antism, because  it  would  oblige  me  to  regard  Christ 
and  his  apostles  as  incompetent  or  dishonest  teach- 
ers   of  religion,   and    the    Bible    itself    fitted   and 
designed  to  lead  men  into  error?"     Most  assuredly 
he  might ;  and  that  too,  Vv'ith  much  more  propriety 
than  the  objection  under  consideration  was  uttered. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  admitting  all  the  objec- 
tion assumes,  it  is  without  force,  because  it  proves 
more    than    those   who  urge  it  v\'ill    admit.     The 
truth  is,  it  is  no  objection  to  any  doctrine,  that  men 
have    heretofore    failed  to   discover   it.     The    true 
question   is  not,  \vh ether  men   have  failed  to  dis- 
cover any  fact  in  times  past,  but  whether  it  jlow  can 
be  jjroi-ed  to  be  a  fact.     The  learned  and  the  un- 
learned, the  wise  and  the  ignorant,  the  philosopher 
and  the  plough-boy,  the  sage  and  the  savage,  had 
seen  apples  fall  to  the  ground  for  near  six  thousand 
years,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  ever  read  in  that 
simple  phenomenon,  the   great  law  of  gravitation. 
But  their  blindness  to  so  obvious  a  thing,  does  not 
weigh  much  against  the  discovery  of  Newton.     So 
men  have  read  and  studied  the  Scriptures  for  many 
centuries ;  but  it  would   be  nothing  marvellous,  if 

*  John  6  :  53. 
6"^ 


66  universalist's  assistant. 

they  have  not  yet  discovered  all  the  truth  they  con- 
tain ;  nor  is  it  any  objection  to  any  new  truth,  men 
may  imagine  they  discover,  that  it  has  not  been 
seen  before.  The  true  question  is — Is  it  sustained 
hy  competent  and  imimpeachable  testimony  ? 

So  in  regard  to  Universalism.  It  is  no  objection 
to  its  truth,  that  so  few,  comparatively,  have  dis- 
covered it ;  or  that  Universalists  have  been  men  of 
inferior  learning,  talents  and  piety  ;  for  it  is  some- 
times the  case,  and  it  may  be  so  in  ours,  that  "  God 
hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world,  to  con- 
found the  wise ;  and  the  weak  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty ;  and  the 
base  things  of  the  world,  and  things  wdiich  are 
despised,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to 
naught  things  that  are  ;  that  no  flesh  should  glory 
in  his  presence ;  '"^'^  and  that,  as  in  another  case, 
"  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many 
mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called."!  Still,  to 
show  that  Universalists  are  not  quite  so  contempt- 
ible, ignorant  and  obscure  as  they  are  sometimes 
represented,  I  may  be  pardoned  if  I  name  a 
few  both  in  the  past  and  the  present ;  such  as 
Clemens  Alexandrinus  and  Origen,  two  of  the 
most  influential  and  learned  men  among  the  early 
Christians.  They  were  teachers  in  the  Alexan- 
drian school,  and  stood  at  its'  head.  This  school, 
which  was  the  most  celebrated  and  exerted   more 

*  1  Cor.  1 :  27—29.  t  I>0-  1  ••  26. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         67 

than  any  other,  was  distinguished,  among  other 
things,  for  its  Universalism.^  In  more  modern 
times,  I  may  name  Bishop  Newton,  Archbishop 
Tillotson,  Dr.  Jebb,  Dr.  Priestley,  John  Frederic 
Oberlin,  Elhanan  Winchester,  Dr.  Rush,  and  others 
too  numerous  to  mention.  To  say  nothing  of  those 
in  our  own  country,  who  hold  this  doctrine  ;  it  is 
admitted  even  at  Andover,  that  in  Germany,  "  it 
has  been  fashionable  among  the  more  popular  Ger- 
man divines  to  disbelieve"  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
punishment ;  and  that  even  Tholuc  himself,  whom 
they  have  labored  so  hard  to  clear  of  all  suspicion 
of  heresy  upon  this  subject,  "says  even  of  the 
evangelical  theologians,  a  good  riumber  of  them 
cherish  a  hope  of  a  final  conversion  of  all  men.^f 
Are  all  these  men  persons  of  inferior  talents,  learn- 
ing and  piety  ?  Nay,  they  are  among  the  most  emi- 
nent men,  the  religious  world  has  ever  produced.^ 

*Giesler's  Eccl.  Hist.,  Period  1,  Div.  Ill,  Chap.  3,  ^  60 
and  61. 

f  German  Selections,  p.  217. 

X  Dr.  IMurdock  says  of  Origen :  "  Against  the  more 
learned  pagans  and  the  heretics  of  those  times,  he  was 
a  champion  who  had  no  equal ;  he  was  also  considered  a 
devout  Christian,  and  was,  beyond  question,  the  first  biblical 
scholar  of  the  age.  His  winning  eloquence,  his  great  learn- 
ing, his  amiable  temper,  his  reputation  for  sincere  and  ardent 
piety,  gave  him  immense  influence,  especially  among  the 
higher  classes  in  society.  No  man.  since  the  apostles,  had 
been  more  indefatigable,  and  no  one  had  done  more  to  dif- 
fuse knowledge  and  make  the  Christian  community  intelli- 
gent, imited,  and  respectable  in  the  view  of  mankind." — 
Translation  of  Mosheim's  Eccl.  Hist.,  Vol.  1.  pp.  204— 6,  Note 
9.     New  Haven,  1832. 


€8  universalist's  assistant. 

That  Universalism  has  not  been  more  generally 
received  in  the  Christian  Church,  or  that  we  hear 
so  little  of  it  from  the  sixth  century  until  the  Re- 
formation in  the  sixteenth  century,  is  not  very  won- 
derful ;  and  it  is  to  be  attributed  to  very  different 
causes,  than  that  of  the  want  of  testimony  in  its 
favor  in  the  Scriptures.  During  this  period,  which 
has  been  justly  termed  "  the  dark  ages,"  the  theol- 
ogy of  the  church  was  drawn  from  any  source, 
but  the  Bible;  for  hardly  one  in  a  thousand  of  her 
clergy,  ever  saw  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures,  and  if 
they  had,  it  was  of  no  use  to  them,  because  they 
could  not  read  a  word  in  them,  such  was  their 
deplorable  ignorance.  Beside,  every  one  who  dared 
to  depart  from  the  received  doctrines,  was  sure  to 
be  hunted  down,  and  his  voice  silenced  by  fire  and 
sword.  Still,  that  Universalism  had  its  advocates 
even  in  these  days  of  darkness,  and  this  period 
of  the  reign  of  terror  and  sin,  is  sufficiently  mani- 
fest from  the  proceedings  of  ecclesiastical  councils 
at  different  periods."^' 

If  there  is  anything  strange  about  the  matter,  it 
is  that  Universalism  has  had  so  many  advocates  as 
it  has.  The  fact  is,  the  vices,  the  passions  and  the 
selfish  interests  of  the  world,  are,  and  ever  have 
been,  and  ever  will  be  arrayed  against  this  doctrine  ; 
and  humiliating  as  may  be  the  fact,  nevertheless,  a 

*  Ancient  History  of  Universalism,  p.  301,  et  seq.  Ap- 
pendix. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         69 

fact  it  is,  that  comparatively  few  persons  have  the 
moral  courage  to  rise  up  in  rebellion  to  public 
opinion,  and  jeopardize  their  reputations,  their  for- 
tunes, their  lives— their  all,  by  an  avowal  of  an 
obnoxious  truth.  Most  men  had  rather  remain 
moored  amid  the  fogs  of  error,  however  pestilential 
they  may  be,  than  to  launch  forth  upon  the  sea  of 
inquiry,  even  with  the  Bible  for  a  chart  and  com- 
pass. And  this  disposition  is  but  too  much  encour- 
aged, by  not  a  few,  who  hold  the  responsible  office 
of  religious  teachers. 

That  it  is  such  influences,  not  the  plainness  with 
which  its  opposite  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  that 
has  prevented  the  more  general  diffusion  and  adop- 
tion of  Universalism,  is  manifest  from  the  actual 
history  of  the  matter.  In  the  earlier  ages  of  the 
church,  while  the  Scriptures  were  freely  circulated 
among  the  people,  and  generally  read  and  studied 
by  the  clergy,  Universalism  showed  itself,  and  at 
the  period  when  the  greatest  attention  was  paid  to 
this  matter,  and  there  were  the  greatest  number  of 
biblical  scholars  and  critics,  then  it  prevailed  the 
most  Vvddely,  and  numbered  among  its  advocates  the 
most  eminent  and  distinguished  scholars  in  the 
church.  But  when  less  attention  was  given  to  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  Christians  gave  them- 
selves to  strife  and  contention,  Universalism  began 
to  decline ;  and  just  in  proportion  to  the  neglect  of- 
the  Bible,  and  the  departure  of  the  church  from  the 


70  univeesalist's  assistant. 

spirit  of  Christ,  did  Universalism  disappear,  until, 
when  the  Bible  was  entirely  abandoned,  and  the 
church  given  up  to  ignorance,  stupidity  and  sin,  it 
totally  disappeared,  amid  the  worse  than  Egyptian 
darkness  that  prevailed. 

When  the  reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century 
broke  out,  and  men  were  once  more  admitted  to  the 
sacred  pages,  to  read  and  understand  them  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  their  own  judgments,  immedi- 
ately believers  and  advocates  of  Universalism, 
sprang  up  in  all  directions.  And  just  in  proportion 
to  the  degree  of  attention  given  to  the  study  of  the 
Bible  in  every  period  since,  has  this  doctrine  pre- 
vailed. As  the  one  has  advanced  and  receded,  so 
has  the  other,  until  the  present  time,  distinguished 
above  all  others,  for  its  wonderful  activity  of  mind, 
its  freedom  of  inquiry,  and  its  diligent,  patient  and 
laborious  research,  and  now  a  greater  proportion  of 
professing  Christians  entertain  this  doctrine,  than 
at  any  period  since  the  days  of  Origen.  With 
those  who  hail  under  the  name  of  Universalists, 
may  be  reckoned  almost  the  entire  Unitarian  denom- 
ination, both  in  this  country  and  Europe,  together 
with  immense  numbers  of  the  members  of  all  the 
various  Protestant  sects,  as  believers  in  this  beauti- 
ful doctrine. 

The  same  fact  appears,  when  we  compare  dif- 
ferent countries  with  each  other,  and  one  section  of 
the    same    country  with    another.     For   example ; 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         71 

take  Germany,  which  has  been  well  pronounced  a 
land  of  scholars,  and  where  biblical  science  has 
received  more  attention,  than  anywhere  else  under 
heaven,  and  there  Universalism  prevails  more 
widely  and  enrolls  more  eminent  names  among  its 
friends  than  in  any  other  country.  Then  take  the 
United  States,  which  undoubtedly  stands  next  to 
Germany  in  its  activity  of  mind,  the  diligent  indus- 
try and  perseverance  of  its  scholars,  and  the  freedom 
of  inquiry,  and  the  attention  to  religious  subjects, 
and  the  same  phenomenon  appears.  A  comparison 
of  the  different  sections  of  this  country,  will  afford 
evidence  to  the  same  point.  A  comparison  of  New 
England,  where  the  greatest  attention  has  been 
paid  to  the  reading  and  study  of  the  Scriptures  of 
any  section,  Vv'ith  the  Middle  and  Western  States, 
and  of  all  these  with  the  Southern  States,  goes 
to  establish  my  position  ;  for  in  the  first  named 
section,  are  the  greatest  numbers  of  Universal- 
ists,  in  proportion  to  the  population ;  in  the  next, 
where  there  is  and  ever  has  been  less  attention  to 
religious  inquiry,  the  number  is  less  who  embrace 
this  doctrine ;  and  in  the  last,  where  there  is  little 
or  no  attention  to  these  matters,  there  is  an  absolute 
dearth  of  Universalism.  It  might  also  be  remarked, 
that  the  prevalence  of  this  doctrine,  bears  a  singular 
and  striking  proportion,  to  the  degree  of  purity  and 
elevation  in  public  morals.  Where  public  morals 
are  the  most  pure  and  elevated,  and  the  most  intel- 


72  universalist's  assistant. 

lectual  cultivation  exists,  there  Universalism  prevails 
the  most  widely;  and  where  there  is  the  most 
ignorance,  and  public  morals  the  most  debased, 
there  it  is  almost,  if  not  entirely,  shut  out. 

Now  if  there  is  such  an  entire  absence  of  proof 
in  favor  of  Universalism  in  the  Bible,  that  the  man 
who  embraces  it,  "  must  regard  Christ  and  his 
apostles  as  incompetent  or  dishonest  teachers  of 
religion,  and  the  Bible  itself  as  fitted  and  designed 
to  lead  men  into  error,"  how  are  we  to  explain 
these  undeniable  and  palpable  facts  ?  Why  is  it, 
that  Universalism  has  ever  had  a  prevalence,  just 
in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  attention  given  to  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  the  elevation  of  public 
morals,  and  the  freedom  of  inquiry  and  toleration 
enjoyed  ?  How  happens  it,  that  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  men,  profound  scholars,  eminent  bibli- 
cal critics,  and  deeply  religious  and  devout  Chris- 
tians, in  every  age  and  countr}^  where  any  tolerable 
degree  of  interest  exists  in  religious  inquiry,  and 
freedom  and  toleration  is  indulged  and  allowed, 
have  been  and  now  are  Universalists  ?  This  is  a 
problem  I  shall  leave  those  w^ho  make  the  objection 
under  consideration,  to  solve. 

And  beside,  why  are  those  who  now  believe  the 
doctrine  of  endless  punishment  so  much  afraid  of 
having  people  hear  Universalism  discussed,  if  it  so 
manifestly  unscriptural  ?  Do  not  the  following 
remarks  upon  the  Reformation  explain  it?     "  As  to 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS;    CONSIDERED.         73 

the  majority  of  those  whose  souls  were  terrified  at 
the  thought  of  relinquishing  a  wonted  and  revered 
conviction,  they  no  longer  had  it  the  moment  they 
feared  they  should  lose  it.  That  they  believed  they 
had,  and  maintained  the  pretension,  made  the  case 
no  better;  for  the  deception  could  not  last  long.'"^ 


SECTION    IV. WHY     DID    THE     PREACHING    OF     CHRIST 

AND      THE       APOSTLES       ALARM      THE      FEARS      AND 
AWAKEN    THE    ENMITY    OF    WICKED    MEN  ? 

"  If  Christ  and  his  Apostles  believed  and  taught  the  salva- 
tion of  all  men,  it  seems  impossible  to  account  for  the  fact, 
that  their  preaching  so  much  alarmed  the  fears  and  awa- 
kened the  enmity  of  wicked  men."t 

It  is  unquestioned  and  unquestionable,  that  such 
an  effect  was  produced,  by  the  preaching  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles.  And  when  it  is  asked,  "  Were 
any  such  effects  ever  known  to  be  produced  by  the 
preaching  of  Universalists ? "t  lam  constrained  to 
answer  in  the  affirmative.  So  when  it  is  asked, 
"  Did  you  ever  know  any  wicked  man,  any  profane 
swearer.  Sabbath-breaker,  drunkard,  infidel,  or  de- 
spiser  of  sacred  things,  displeased  at  hearing  this 
doctrine?  I  must  answer,  only  in  a  few  instances, 
and  that  when  they  were  raging  with  passion 
against  some  fellow-creature.     At  other  times,  when 

♦Biblical  Repositorv,  Vol.  9..  p.  340,  April,  1837. 
t  Tract  224,  p.  5.     ""  t  Tract  224.  p.  6. 

7 


74  universalist's  assistant. 

the  better  principles  and  feelings  of  human  nature 
predominate,  they  are  always  pleased  with  the  idea 
this  doctrine  presents.  Indeed,  I  cannot  conceive 
how  any  mind,  under  the  dominion  of  pure,  benevo- 
lent and  generous  principles  and  feelings,  can  be 
any  other  than  pleased  with  it.  It  is  only  those 
raging  with  passion  against  some  one,  the  sour- 
hearted,  selfish,  malicious  and  hating  bigot,  that  can 
be  offended  with  the  doctrine.  It  harmonizes  with 
the  highest  and  holiest  impulses  of  all  other  hearts  ; 
and  of  this  its  friends  and  believers  have  great  reason 
to  be  proud.     It  is  its  honor  and  glory. 

I  know,  indeed,  that  arguing  the  single  point  of  the 
salvation  of  all  men,  is  not  peculiarly  calculated  to 
convict  men  of  sin  and  bring  them  to  repentance.  But 
this  is  no  truer  of  Universalism,  than  it  is  of  every 
other  ism  under  heaven.  Every  sect  holds  more  or 
less  doctrines,  the  inculcation  and  defence  of  which, 
cannot,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  secure  any 
of  these  effects,  however  important  and  salutary  they 
may  be,  when  taken  in  connexion  with  the  system 
they  hold.  For  example,  lake  the  system  of  the  ob- 
jector, which  includes  the  doctrines  of  the  trinity, 
vicarious  atonement,  total  native  depravity,  and  the 
final  perseverance  of  the  saints,  and  I  ask  what  salu- 
tary moral  influence  is  their  inculcation  and  defence 
calculated  to  produce  ?  Who  ever  heard  of  any  com- 
punctions of  conscience  being  produced  ;  any  sense 
of  guilt  and  shame  excited  ;  any  awakening  of  the 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.        75 

moral  senses  to  be  secured ;  any  harrowing  up  of  the 
soul  with  remorse  and  fear ;  or  the  formation  of  any 
holy  resolves,  in  a  wicked  man,  or  any  sinner  led  to 
repentance,  by  arguing  any  of  these  doctrines  ?  No 
one  will  pretend  this.  Hence,  if  this  circumstance 
is  anything  against  Universalism,  or  goes  to  show, 
that  it  is  inconsistent  wnth  the  teachings  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles,  it  proves  the  same  thing  in  regard 
to  a  misnamed  Orthodoxy. 

The  objection  under  consideration  proceeds  upon 
the  presumption,  that  the  Universalist  pulpit  has, 
and  can  have,  no  other  employment,  than  arguing 
the  solitary  doctrine  of  universal  salvation ;  a  pre- 
sumption that  is  utterly  unfounded  and  false.  That 
the  ministry  of  this  denomination  may  have  given 
an  undue  share  of  attention  to  the  inculcation  and 
defence  of  this  one  idea,  I  am  not  disposed  to  deny. 
But  I  do  deny,  that  they  have  sinned  any  more,  in 
this  respect,  than  their  contemporaries  of  other  sects. 
To  represent  that  they  are  limited,  in  their  pulpit 
ministrations,  to  one  point  of  doctrine,  or  that,  be- 
cause they  may  have  given  an  undue  degree  of  time 
and  attention  to  the  proof  of  their  distinguishing 
article  of  belief,  nothing  else  is  heard  from  them,  is 
as  unjust,  false  and  slanderous  a  representation,  as  it 
would  be  to  describe  the  ministrations  of  the  Baptist 
pulpit  as  limited  to  the  defence  o{  immersion  alone  as 
baptism;  or  those  of  the  Pedo-Baptists,  as  given 
merely  to   the   defence   of  infant  baptism.     This 


76  tjniversalist's  assistant. 

would  be  as  tnte  of  these  last  cases,  as  is  the  intima- 
tion in  regard  to  the  former.  All  of  them,  at  times, 
have  erred  in  the  course  they  have  pursued.  They 
have  proclaimed  their  peculiarities,  to  the  neglect 
of  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  "judgment, 
mercy  and  faith."  And  if  these  last  are  excusable  for 
their  error,  in  reference  to  mere  non-essentials,  surely 
Universalists  ought  to  be,  for  their  mistakes,  when 
the  matter  involved,  relates  to  man's  eternal  destiny, 
the  essential  character  of  the  eternal  God,  and  funda- 
mentally affects  the  whole  system  of  theology. 

In  regard  to  the  actual  effects  produced  by  the 
Universalist  pulpit,  I  must  say,  and  upon  this  mat- 
ter I  can  speak  advisedly,  that  no  pulpits  in  the  land 
more  frequently  displease  the  profane  swearer,  the 
Sabbath-breaker,  the  drunkard,  the  infidel,  and  the 
despiser  of  sacred  things,  than  those  of  this  denomi- 
nation. No  pulpits  speak  out  more  distinctly,  boldly 
and  fearlessly  against  these  and  all  other  vices.  I 
can  truly  say,  I  have  heard  some  of  the  most 
pointed,  faithful  and  earnest  rebukes  of  the  preva- 
lent vices  of  society,  from  the  ministers  of  this  faith, 
to  which  I  have  ever  listened.  And  no  ministers 
are  more  frequently  made  to  suffer  in  their  reputa- 
tions and  interests,  from  the  malicious  slanders, 
abuse  and  falsehoods  of  the  unprincipled  and  wicked, 
or  pursued  with  more  unrelenting  fury  and  persever- 
ance, by  the  profane  swearer,  the  Sabbath-breaker, 
the  drunkard,  the  infidel,  and  the  despisers  of  sacred 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.        77 

things,  and  all  whose  hearts  are  fully  set  on  doing 
evil.  They  stand  between  two  fires, — that  of  these 
characters,  and  that  of  the  sanctimonious  and  bigoted 
hypocrite, 

"  Who  steals  the  livery  of  the  court  of  heaven. 
To  serve  the  devil  in." 

It  is  true,  that  "  Christ  rarely  preached  a  sermon, 
which  did  not  excite  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  sin- 
ners, and  send  them  away  dissatisfied  and  murmur- 
ing against  the  preacher.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
apostles."  "^  "  But  who  were  the  wicked  men  whose 
fears  and  enmity  were  excited  ?  Who  were  these 
sinners  who  went  away  dissatisfied  and  murmur- 
ing?"! It  was  not  "  the  worldly  and  gay,  the  im- 
penitent and  prayerless;"t  but  the  professedly  reli- 
gious, prapng,  Sabbath-keeping  people,  whom  he 
compared  to  whited  sepulchres,  whose  outward  ap- 
pearance was  beautiful,  while  within  they  were  full 
of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity  ;^  pious  rulers  and  Phari- 
sees, who  thought  themselves  righteous  and  despised 
others. II  It  was  such  persons  as  these,  whom  Jesus 
told,  "  the  publicans  and  harlots  go  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  before  you  ;"1[  men  thoroughly  bent  upon 
doing  evil,  who  were  offended  at  the  preaching  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  persecuted  them  from 
city  to  city.     But  it  was  not  so  with  the  multitude 

*  Tract  224,  p.  5.  f  Replv  to  Tract  224,  p.  13. 

X  Tract  224,  p.  6.  ^latt"'.  23  :  27. 

II  Luke  18:  9.  ^[Matt.  21 :  31. 

7# 


78  universalist's  assistant. 

that  sinned  through  ignorance,*  for  "  the  common 
people  heard  him  gladly,"!  and  wondered  at  the 
gracious  words  that  he  uttered. t  Those  who  were 
pronounced  "  cursed,"  §  publicans  and  sinners, II  and 
the  like,  were  never  offended  at  his  preaching,  al- 
though he  rebuked  their  sins  in  the  most  plain  and 
affectionate,  and  earnest  manner.  Such  persons  were 
his  principal  friends  and  patrons.  Hence  he  was 
denounced  as  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners ; 
sneered    and   scoffed   at   as  a    Sabbath-breaker :  If 


*  There  are  some  persons  who  are  vicious  and  d.epraved, 
that  are  disposed  to  think,  because  the  denunciations  of 
Christ  are  levelled  ixgamst  hijpocritical  sinners,  that  a  man  is 
quite  excusable  for  his  abominations,  if  they  are  committed 
openly  and  above-board,  without  any  attempt  to  conceal 
them,  under  a  mask  of  goodness.  So  also  there  are  those 
who  seem  to  think  a  minister  must  not  preach  in  a  way  that 
will  give  offence  to  any  open,  undisguised  and  shameless 
sinner,  no  matter  how  degraded ;  and  that  he  is  utterly  un- 
pardonable in  so  doing,  because  publicans  and  sinners  did 
not  become  ofiended  at  Christ's  preaching.  But  both  are 
sadly  deceived.  If  a  man  wilfully  and  knowingly  lives  in 
habits  of  vice  and  wrong,  he  is  equally  guilty,  whether  he 
commits  his  deeds  of  wickedness  in  the  face  of  heaven  and 
earth,  with  a  shameless  impudence  and  indifference  to  all 
consequences,  or  endeavors  to  conceal  them  under  a  mask 
of  goodness  and  virtue.  In  truth,  the  former  shows  a  deeper 
depravity  than  the  latter.  Beside,  no  mortal  can  rebuke 
and  expose  a  vice,  even  with  an  angel's  voice  of  sweetness 
and  love,  without  offending  those  whose  hearts  ai'e  fulli/  set 
upon  doing  evil ;  M^hile  ignorant  offenders  will  take  no  of- 
fence. And  this  is  the  precise  reason  for  the  different  course 
pursued  toward,  and  the  treatment  Christ  received  from,  the 
Pharisees  and  publicans  and  sinners. 

fMark  12:  37.  t  Luke  4  :  22. 

^  John  7:  49.  |1  Matt.  9  :  11. 

IT  Mark  2:  27.     Luke  13:  14. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         79 

a  glutton  and  a  wine-bibber;"^  and  rejected  as  a 
blasphemer,!  a  deceiver  of  the  people, t  on  whom 
none  of  the  rulers  or  the  Pharisees  had  believed. § 
It  was  such  persons  as  these  who  were  the  most 
offended  at  the  preaching  of  Christ,  expressed  the 
"deepest  abhorrence "  II  of  him,  and  finally  pro- 
cured his  death.  They  were  offended  because  he 
would  not  permit  them  to  go  on  in  their  sins  undis- 
turbed by  exposure  and  rebuke  ;  and  this  result  will 
ahvays  follow  such  a  course,  upon  all  whose  hearts 
are  fully  set  upon  doing  evil,  regardless  of  all  conse- 
quences, whether  they  be  open,  undisguised  and 
shameless,  or  hypocritical  sinners,  be  the  teacher  a 
Universalist  or  anything  else. 

*Matt.  11:  19.     Luke  7:  34. 

t  Matt.  9:3.  X  Matt.  27  :  63.     John  7  :  12. 

^  John  7  ;  48.  1!  Tract  224,  p.  7. 


so 


SECTION  V. UNIVERSALISM    INCONSISTENT    WITH    THE 

CHARACTER    OF    GOD    AS    A    REWARDER. 

"  The  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  is  inconsistent  with 
the  character  of  God  as  a  rewarder,  and  with  the  great  truth, 

that  men  are  now  in  a  state  of  probation If  Univer- 

salism  is  true,  God  is  not  a  righteous  moral  governor ;  he 
makes  no  public  and  visible  distinction  between  those  who 
serve  him,  and  those  who  serve  him  not;  but  is  an  indif- 
ferent spectator  of  the  conduct  of  men  ;  neither  loving  holi- 
ness nor  hating  sin ;  neither  rewarding  the  righteous,  nor 
punishing  the  wicked."  * 

The  main  positions  here  stated,  as  well  as  the 
collateral  ideas  involved,  must  strike  every  well- 
disciplined  mind,  as  both  singular  and  extraordinary. 
It  is,  in  effect,  maintaining  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  rewards  and  punishments,  under  the  Divine 
government,  unless  they  are  infinite  in  measure 
and  endless  in  duration ;  for  the  precise  difference 
between  the  believer  in  endless  punishment  and  the 
Ilniversalist,  is  simply  in  relation  to  the  character, 
objects  and  duration  of  the  rewards  and  punish- 
ments for  men's  doings  in  this  life — the  Ilniver- 
salist maintaining,  that  they  are  means  and  of 
course  limited,  so  far,  at  least,  as  individual  actions 
are  concerned,  or  the  aggregate  of  any  number  are 
concerned  ;  while  the  believer  in  the  doctrine  of 
endless  misery  holds  them  to  be  ends  and  unlimited 
in  duration.  The  position  is  as  if  one  should 
*  Tract  224,  pp.  10,  11. 


MISCELLANEOUS    0BJECT10^^S    CONSIDERED.         81 

maintain,  that  all  the  penalties  attached  to  the  penal 
code  of  a  statute,  were  no  punishments  for  crime, 
except  such  as  are  capital ;  than  which  a  greater 
absurdity  could  not  be  maintained. 

So  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  probation,  which 
I  suppose  means  trial,  I  have  but  a  few  words  to 
say.  If  I  understand  this  doctrine  as  commonly 
held,  I  regard  it  as  equally  inconsistent  with  the 
Bible  as  with  Universalism.  I  cannot  regard  this 
as  a  state,  where  men  are  neither  rewarded  or  pun- 
ished, and  the  next  one  where  there  is  nothing  but 
rewards  and  punishments.  As  for  this  state,  it  is 
not  so,  if  the  Bible  is  true,  or  any  reliance  is  to  be 
placed  upon  human  observation  and  experience; 
and  surely  it  will  be  difficult  to  make  out,  from  the 
Scriptures  or  otherwise,  that  the  future  is  purely 
and  solely  a  state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  for 
human  doings  in  this  world.  I  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  think,  and  certainly  the  most  obvious 
appearance  upon  the  face  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the 
actual  state  of  things  as  presented  to  human  experi- 
ence and  observation,  confirm  the  impression, — that 
this  state  of  existence  is  quite  as  much  a  condition 
of  discipline  as  of  trial ;  for  most  assuredly,  men 
are  in  some  degree  at  least,  if  not  fully,  rewarded 
and  punished  here  for  their  doings.  And  in  regard 
to  a  future  state,  it  may  well  be  asked,  if  it  is 
entirely  a  state  of  retribution  upon  the  present,  how 
and  when  are  men  to  be  rewarded  and  punished  ^^ 


82  universalist's  assistant. 

their  doings  in  thai  state?  for  I  suppose  they  will 
be  active  beings  there,  as  well  as  here.  For  one, 
although  I  can  understand  how  men  may  be 
rewarded  and  punished  in  the  future  life,  and  thus 
that  life  be  a  retribution  upon  the  present,  so  that 
they  may  be  rewarded  according  to  their  works 
done  here,  I  cannot  understand  how  it  can  be  so, 
when  man's  whole  existence  is  taken  into  the  ac- 
count, upon  the  supposition  that  this  retribution  is 
endless.  For  there  is  the  wdiole  of  their  doings 
through  that  endless  retribution,  for  which  no  retri- 
bution is  provided,^  unless,  indeed,  we  suppose  the 
human  soul  in  the  world  of  spirits,  is  converted 
into  a  thing  as  passive  and  inert  as  the  stones  in 
the  fields,  or  the  clods  of  the  valley.  This  I  am 
not  aware  that  any  one  will  admit. 

The  truth  is,  no  state  into  which  a  human  being- 


*■  "There  is  no  way  by  which  this  conclusion  can  be 
evaded,  but  by  supposing,  that  men  and  devils  in  hell  are 
incapable  of  sinning,  or  that  the  sins  which  they  commit 
there,  do  not  incur  any  additional  punishment.  But  neither 
of  these  positions  can  be  maintained.  That  men  whose 
nature  is  sinful,  and  who  by  long  custom  have  formed  invet- 
erate habits  of  sinning,  when  removed  to  another  world, 
should  cease  to  commit  sin,  is  an  unreasonable  supposition ; 
and  to  suppose  that  sin,  in  a  future  state,  does  not  incur  the 
curse  of  the  law  or  the  displeasure  of  God,  is  equally  unrea- 
oonable.  God,  from  the  holiness  of  his  nature,  must  hate 
sin  wherever  it  appears,  and  he  always  acts  agreeably  to 
his  nature.  To  suppose  men  in  hell  divested  of  their  moral 
agency,  would  be  to  suppose  them  in  such  a  condition,  as 
scarcely  to  be  capable  of  suffering  for  their  sins."  Tract 
against  UP'^^er.salism,  American  Tract  No.  350,  p.  5. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         83 

can  be  transferred,  can  be  simply  and  solely  a 
state  of  retribution  upon  a  past  state,  so  long  as 
man  is  an  active  and  a  morally  accountable  being ; 
because,  in  such  a  case,  he  must  be  every  moment, 
the  subject  of  praise  or  blame,  of  reward  or  punish- 
ment, neither  of  which  can  he  receive  for  his 
doings  in  a  purely  retributory  state,  which  looks 
only  to  the  past,  if  that  state  is  of  endless  duration. 
And  if  man  is  not  a  morally  accountable  being  in 
any  state,  he  is  not  susceptible  of  reward  or  pun- 
ishment, either  for  the  past  or  the  present,  in  that 
state.  So  that,  if  the  common  doctrine  of  probation 
is  admitted,  it  "is  inconsistent  with  the  character 
of  God  as  a  rewarder,"  so  far  as  relates  to  the  future 
state,  at  least ;  and  he  "  is  an  indifferent  spectator  of 
the  conduct  of  men  ;  neither  loving  holiness  nor 
hating  sin  ;  neither  rewarding  the  righteous,  nor 
punishing  the  wicked." 

But  could  it  be  made  out,  that  God  is  a  rewarder 
of  men,  in  any  sense,  upon  the  hypothesis  of  end- 
less punishment,  it  cannot  be  maintained  for  a  mo- 
ment, that  he  is  an  equitable  rewarder  of  them; 
for  to  say  nothing  of  the  infinite  disproportion 
betAveen  finite  sins  and  an  infinite  punishment, 
there  is  great  inequality,  when  viewed  in  its  indi- 
vidual relations  and  bearings.  There  are  all  possi- 
ble grades  of  character  among  men,  varying  from 
the  worst  to  the  best.  And  yet,  according  to  the 
doctrine    in  question,  mankind  are   to  be  divided 


84 

into  two  and  only  two  classes,  the  one  to  be  infinitely 
and  endlessly  rewarded,  and  the  other  infinitely 
and  endlessly  punished.  In  other  words,  those 
who  have  scarcely  virtue  enough  to  keep  them  out 
of  hell,  and  those  who  have  climbed  to  the  highest 
point  of  excellence,  are  to  be  rewarded  precisely 
alike ;  and  that  the  man  who  has  almost  goodness 
enough  to  secure  his  admittance  into  heaven,  and 
the  blood-stained  pirate  and  murderer  are  to  share 
the  same  eternal  state  !  This  is  truly  such  equity 
as  the  world  knoweth  not  of! 

The  true  state  of  the  case,  I  take  to  be,  that  every 
state  in  which  the  human  soul  will  ever  exist,  is  a 
state  of  retribution,  both  on  the  present  and  the 
past,  if  past  there  is.  An  intimate  relation  subsists 
between  the  present  and  all  the  past.  By  our 
present,  we  make  our  future  ;  and  our  future  will 
be  a  retribution  upon  our  past,  no  matter  w^hether 
we  are  in  this  world  or  that  which  is  to  come ;  and 
at  the  same  time  it  will  be,  in  a  very  important 
sense,  a  retribution  upon  that  present.  In  other 
words,  our  doings  and  their  consequences  go  hand 
in  hand,  and  at  the  same  time  reach  back,  and 
take  hold  of  the  past,  as  a  cause,  and  forward,  and 
take  hold  of  the  future  in  their  consequences. 


85 


SECTIO:«  VI. — UNIVERSALISM  INCONSISTENT  WITH  GOD  S 
MERCY. 

"  It  denies  the  meic)'^  of  God,  and  sinks  the  grace  of  the 
gospel  into  an  empty  parade  of  high  sounding  words.  It  is 
asserted  by  Universalists,  that  the  '  \vicli:ed  receive  a  pun- 
ishment proportioned  to  their  crimes;'  'that  all  the  hell 
there,  is  inevitably  certain  to  the  wicked ;'  that  their  suiFer- 
ings  '  ever  will  be  in  exact  ratio  to  the  measure  and  magni- 
tude of  sin.'  -■'  * 


If  Universalists  err  in  maintaining  such  a  doc- 
trine as  this,  they  certainly  have  very  respectable 
authority  for  it,  for  surely,  no  doctrine  stands 
out  with  greater  distinctness  and  prominence,  or  is 
insisted  on  with  greater  emphasis,  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  particularly  in  the  New  Testament,  than 
that  men  are  to  be  rewarded  according  to  their 
works.  Its  language  is — "  For  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  with  his 
angels,  and  then  he  shall  reward  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  v:orIrS.'"f  "But  he  that  doetk  wrong 
shall  receive  for  the  wrong  which  he  hath  done; 
and  there  is  no  respect  of  persons." t  So  that,  if 
Universalism  is  to  be  condemned  for  maintaining 
such  an  idea,  the  Bible  must  share  the  same  fate 


*  Tract  224,  p.  49. 

t  Matt.  16  :  27.     Rom.  2:  6.     Rev.  20  :  13  :  22  :  12. 

i  Col.  3:  25. 

S 


86  universalist's  assistant. 

In  such  company,  Universalists  are  content  to  stand 
or  fall. 

Beside,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  this  objection  is 
the  directly  opposite  of  another  one,  we  sometimes 
hear  from  the  same  quarter,  viz.,  "that  a  God  all 
mercy,  is  a  God  unjust;"  and  here  we  have  it,  "a 
God  all  justice,  is  a  God  unmerciful."  Now  both 
these  objections  originate  from  viewing  the  same 
idea  from  different  positions,  and  under  different 
aspects,  and  are  founded  upon  the  mistaken  notion, 
that  justice  and  mercy  are  two  opposite  and  antago- 
nistical  principles,  which  cannot  harmonize  in  the 
same  person  or  being.  And  yet,  the  Bible  every- 
where maintains,  that  God  is  just  and  at  the  same 
time  merciful. 

I  am  free  to  confess,  that  if  Universalists  held 
with  the  objector,  that  punishment  is  merely  and 
solely  vindicatory,  if  not  vindictive,  that  it  is  an  end; 
and  that  a  specific  amount  of  punishment  is  to  be 
inflicted  for  sin,  and  that  too,  without  any  reference 
to  the  good  of  the  offender,  this  objection  would  be 
invested  v/ith  great  force  and  power.  But  believ- 
ing as  Universalists  do,  that  punishment  is  a  means 
in  the  hands  of  God,  by  which  he  aims  to  promote 
human  good,  and  even  that  of  the  transgressor 
himself;  that  all  divine  retribution  is  parental  in  its 
character ;  that  every  man  deserves  and  will  receive 
so  much,  and  so  much  punishment  only,  as  will 
secure  the  sfreat  ends  of  all  rifrhteous  retribution ; 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         87 

that  the  duration  and  the  severity  of  that  punishment, 
which  each  individual  will  receive,  depends  not  so 
much  upon  the  specific  amount  of  wrong  that  he  may 
have  committed,  as  upon  the  depravity  and  perversity 
of  his  hearty  and  the  perseverance  with  which  he 
resists  the  demands  of  God's  law,  this  objection  is 
divested  of  all  its  force,  and  falls  most  harmless  to 
the  ground.  Every  candid  and  fair-minded  man 
must  see,  that,  under  such  a  view,  there  is  nothing- 
unmerciful  in  causing  men  to  suffer  precisely  accord- 
ing to  their  works,  more  than  there  is  in  an  earthly 
parent's  firmly  subjecting  his  wayward  and  stubborn 
child  to  a  system  of  discipline,  of  which  punishment 
constitutes  a  part,  until  his  stubbornness  is  subdued, 
and  he  is  reclaimed  from  his  waywardness.  Ac- 
cording to  this  view,  justice  and  mercy  act  in  per- 
fect harmony,  and  both  conspire  to  the  same  great 
end, — the  highest  and  best  good  of  all  souls.  And 
hence  we  read — "  Mercy  and  truth  are  met  toge- 
ther; righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each 
other." "^  "Also  unto  thee,  0  Lord,  belongeth 
MERCY  ;  for  thou  renderest  to  every  man  according 
to  his  worky^ 

*Ps.  85:  10.  fDo.  62:  12. 


88  universalist's  assistant. 


SECTION    VII. GOD     TREATS     THE     RIGHTEOUS    WORSE 

THAN    THE    WICKED. 

"  Universalism  represents  God  as  often  treating  wicked 
men  far  better  than  he  does  the  righteous.  The  wicked,  it 
is  said,  do  '^not  live  out  half  their  days."  They  die  in  the 
midst  of  their  pilgrimage,  and  are  taken  directly  to  heaven  ; 
whilst  the  righteous  are  left  to  linger  out,  in  this  vale  of 
tears,  the  full  term  of  their  earthly  being,  and  arrive  late  at 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  * 

This  objection  is  illustrated  by  a  reference  to 
several  examples.  It  is  said,  "  On  this  principle, 
how  much  more  highly  favored  were  the  antedilu- 
vians than  Noah  !  .  .  .  .  Lot,  too,  would  have  fared 
far  better  than  he  did,  had  he  have  been  as  wicked 

as  the  Sodomites How  unfortunate  was  it 

for  Moses,  that  he  belonged  to  the  people  of  God, 
rather  than  the  Egyptians !  .  .  .  .  How  much  hap- 
pier was  Judas  than  the  other  apostles  !"t 

This  objection  is  founded  upon  an  entire  mis- 
representation of  Universalism,  as  may  be  seen  by  a 
reference  to  the  explanation  on  a  previous  page.^ 
It  proceeds  upon  the  supposition,  that  Universalism 
is  the  belief  that  all  men  enter  a  state  of  perfect  feli- 
city immediately  after  the  death  of  the  body.  But 
it  is  not  so.  Universalism  is  the  belief  that  all  men 
will  become  righteous^  and  in  consequence  happy. 
I  know,  indeed,  that  some  Universalists  hold  to  that 
idea  ;  but  it  makes  no  part  of  Universalism.     It  is  a 

*  Tract  224,  pp.  19— 50.         fTbid.         :J:pp.  8— 13. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         0\f 

mere  adjunct,  an  incidental  idea,  an  occasional  and 
unnecessary  appendage. 

With  this  correction,  I  might  let  the  objection 
drop  ;  but  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  I  am  willing 
to  accept  the  objection  as  stated  by  the  author,  in  its 
fullest  force,  and  then  I  remark, 

1.  That  m.ost  men  of  intelligence  and  virtue  are 
in  the  habit  of  regarding  this  world  as  rather  a  plea- 
sant dwelling-place  to  the  virtuous  and  good,  not- 
withstanding its  labors,  crosses  and  trials,  instead  of 
being  so  dark,  dismal  and  wretched  a  place,  that  to 
live  in  it  is  a  cuise.  With  all  its  discomforts  and 
offensive  things,  it  is  a  state  where  the  good  enjoy 
vastly  more  than  they  suffer ;  and  hence  they  are 
willing  to  remain  here  all  their  appointed  days,  and 
that,  too,  without  regarding  it  a  very  severe  punish- 
ment, even  in  the  most  unfavorable  cases.  At  any 
rate,  such  people  generally  prefer  to  remain  here  the 
full  measure  of  their  days,  rather  than  be  hurried 
away  by  drowning,  burning  or  hanging.  Indeed, 
most  sober  and  rational  men  regard  the  amount  of 
happiness  allotted  to  man  and  all  other  creatures,  in 
this  world,  as  so  much  overbalancing  the  misery  they 
are  necessitated  to  suffer,  that  it  affords  a  very  deci- 
sive testimony  for  divine  goodness,  even  considered 
irrespective  of  another  state. 

2.  I  remark,  that  the  whole  point  and  force  of 
this  objection  lies  in  the  implied  idea,  that  if  a  man 
is  sure  of  going  immediately  to  heaven  at  death,  it 


90  universalist's  assistant. 

is  desirable,  so  far  as  the  individual  himself  is  con- 
cerned, that  he  should  be  cut  off  from  the  earth  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  so  sent  the  earlier  to  heaven  ! 
that  the  man  who  should  shoot,  hang,  drown  or 
burn  such  an  individual,  would  perform  for  him  a 
most  benevolent  deed  I  Hence,  the  following  extra- 
ordinary language  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  one  of 
the  most  bloody  pirates  that  ever  swung  into  heaven 
by  a  halter.'^  "  I  devoted  my  life  to  the  simple  and 
benevolent  business  of  aiding  my  brethren,  my  kins- 
men according  to  the  flesh,  up  to  paradise,  by  the 
quickest  and  gentlest  means !  "t 

Now  it  is  maintained,  that  all  true  Christians  are 
sure  of  going  to  heaven  as  soon  as  they  are  divested 
of  this  mortal  body.  This,  I  suppose,  will  be  admit- 
ted on  all  hands.  At  any  rate,  it  is  very  strermously 
held  to  by  those  who  urge  the  objection  under  con- 
sideration against  Universalism.  If,  therefore,  there 
is  any  force  in  this  objection,  it  would  be  a  blessing 
to  such  persons,  should  the  governm-ent  put  them,  as 
soon  as  they  become  Christians,  into  the  hands  of  a 
public  executioner,  to  be  shot,  hanged,  drowned  or 

*  Allusion  is  here  had  to  the  noted  Gibbs,  and  to  the  cir- 
cumstance of  his  being  attended  upon  the  gallows  by  a 
number  of  clergymen,  who  gave  him  and  those  who 
witnessed  his  execution,  if  my  memory  serves  me  right,  the 
assurance,  that  they  believed  him  fully  prepared  for  heaven, 
into  which  they  believed  he  would  immediately  enter !  This 
is  a  common  occurrence,  if  it  was  not  so  in  that  case.  And 
yet  these  same  men  can  hold  up  their  hand  in  pious  horror  at 
Universalism,  and  denounce  it  as  licentious  in  its  tendency ! ! 

t  Tract  36?,  p.  8. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         91 

burned,  that  they  might  the  sooner  get  to  heaven ! 
or  should  the  Almighty  send  a  flood  and  drown,  or 
his  thunder-bolts  and  blast  them,  and  so  take  them 
home  to  himself!  This  is  a  way  of  blessing  Chris- 
tians, I  am  inclined  to  think,  which  would  not  be  so 
much  coveted  by  most  people,  as  greatly  to  multiply 
the  converts  to  Christianity;  for  I  apprehend  the 
greater  part  of  our  race  are  so  stupid,  that  it  would 
be  very  difficult  to  convince  them,  that  it  is  a  greater 
blessing  to  die  an  early  and  violent  death — to  be 
thrust  out  of  the  world  by  the  hands  of  the  public 
e.-ocutioner  or  the  visitations  of  the  Almighty,  even 
if  Che/  do  get  to  heaven  a  little  earlier^  than  to  live 
ro  a  good  old  age,  die  a  natural  death,  in  their  own 
hc-ds,  surrounded  by  their  friends,  and  in  peace  and 
hope,  although  it  may  bring  them  late  to  heaven ! 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  this  objection  lies  as 
much  against  every  system  of  faith  Vv^hich  maintains 
that  any  man  will  exist  and  be  happy  immediately 
after  death,  as  against  Universalism ;  and  more  so 
against  those  systems  of  belief  which  represent  the 
path  of  the  sinner,  in  this  life,  as  strown  with  flowers, 
while  that  of  the  just  is  hedged  up  with  thorns.  If 
the  good  man  has  so  painful  a  path  to  tread ;  if  his 
joys  are  so  few  and  his  trials  so  many,  that  he 
would  have  no  inducement  to  struggle  against 
temptation  and  sin ;  to  practise  the  self-denial  re- 
quired ;  and  to  perform  the  great  duties  of  life,  but 
for  the  assurance  of  eternal  blessedness  as  his  re- 


ya  UNIVERSALIST  S   ASSISTANT. 

ward ;  and  if  after  all  he  may  fall  from  grace  and 
perish  everlastingly,  what  more  benevolent  deed 
could  be  done,  than  to  hasten  them  out  of  this  miser- 
able world  as  soon  as  they  are  in  grace  ?  And  then 
how  unmerciful  is  the  Almighty,  to  doom  them  to 
such  a  fate,  instead  of  taking  them  home  to  heaven  ! 
3.  We  will  now  present  a  few  examples  from  the 
Scriptures,  as  an  offset  to  those  named  by  the  objec- 
tor. "  How  much  better  did  the  Jews  treat  our 
Saviour  and  his  followers,  than  their  own  children  ! 
Those,  they  sent  early  to  heaven  ;  these,  they  left 
to  the  intolerable  curse  of  a  long  life!  Herod 
showed  a  striking  partiality  towards  the  innocent 
babes  of  Bethlehem,  by  taking  them  off  to  heaven  at 
one  fell  swoop,  while  their  less  indulgent  mothers 
would  have  detained  them  upon  earth,"  ^  to  drag 
out  a  miserable  existence,  and  perhaps,  go  to  hell  at 
last! 


SECTION    VIII. THERE     IS     NO     SUCH     THING    AS   FOR- 
GIVENESS. 

''It  is  manifest  that,  upon  this  scheme,  sinners  can  neither 
receive  forgiveness  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  nor  in  any 
other  way  ;  for  having  suffered  the  proper  penalty  of  the 
law,  they  have  a  right  to  deliverance  on  the  footing  of 
justice. "f 

This  objection  lies  not  merely  against  Univer- 
salism,  but  against  every  view  of  the  divine  govern- 

*  Reply  to  Br.  Halves,  p.  71.        |-  Tract  362,  p.  4. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         93 

ment,  which  maintains  that  the  subjects  of  salva- 
tion are  anywhere  to  be  punished  for  their  sins. 
For,  if  the  infliction  of  punishment  for  sin,  when 
appUed  to  the  subjects  of  salvation,  is  inconsistent 
with  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace,  then  all  such 
persons  are  exempted  from  all  Hability  to  punish- 
ment, however  numerous  and  detestable  their  crimes, 
no  matter  whether  the  number  saved  be  few  or 
many.  So  that  the  objector  must  either  give  up  this 
objection,  or  maintain  that  some  sinners  are  in  no 
danger  of  being  punished  for  their  sins. 

The  objection  is  founded,  also,  in  entirely  wrong 
conceptions  of  the  views  of  Universalists,  relative  to 
the  nature  of  punishment.  It  is  based  upon  the 
idea  that  punishment,  under  the  divine  government, 
is  merely  vindicatory  if  not  vindictive ;  that  a  specific 
amount  of  punishment  is  inflicted  for  a  specific 
amount  of  wrong  doing ;  that  they  regard  punish- 
ment as  merely  and  solely  retrospective,  only  with 
an  eye  to  the  past,  or  as  inflicted  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  the  individual  has  sinned.  It  is  only  on 
this  supposition,  that  the  declaration  could  be  made; 
that  after  "  having  suffered  the  proper  penalty  of  the 
law,  they  have  a  right  to  deliverance  on  the  footing 
of  justice." 

I  need  tell  no  one  who  is  tolerably  acquainted 
with  the  views  of  Universalists,  that  they  entertain 
no   such  opinions.     As   has   once  before  been  re- 


94  universalist's  assistant. 

marked,"^  they  do  not  believe  that  a  specific  amount 
of  punishment  is  due  for  a  specific  amount  of  \\Tong 
and  sin ;  but  that  every  man  deserves  and  that  he 
will  be  punished  until  he  reforms,  and  that  when  re- 
formation is  secured,  each  and  every  individual  has 
been  punished  according  to  his  deeds,  however  di- 
verse the  specific  proportions,  between  the  evil  done 
and  the  misery  suffered;  for  they  regard  all  just 
and  equitable  punishment,  under  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God,  as  prospective — not  looking  so  much 
at  what  is  passed,  as  to  what  is  to  come ;  not  inflict- 
ing pain  so  much  because  the  individual  has  done 
wrong  and  sinned,  as  to  prevent  his  doing  so  any 
more.  It  is  one  part  of  that  great  system  of  means 
which  God  has  ordained,  to  reclaim  the  wayward 
children  of  men ;  but  it  is  not  the  principal  or  the 
most  efficient  means  of  attaining  this  end.  Of  itself, 
it  could  not  reclaim  a  single  soul.  It  is  only  by  its 
being  attended  by  the  grace  of  God,  as  manifested 
in  the  life,  sufferings,  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  punishment  becomes  an  agent  in  the 
redemption  and  salvation  of  men.  Without  this,  it 
might  serve  only  to  irritate,  harden  and  render  the 
individual  more  reckless  and  desperate  in  the  way 
of  sin  and  iniquity. 

But  while  punishment  is  prospective,  and  looks 
mainly  to  the  future  for  its  object,  pardon  or  for- 
giveness is   mainly   retrospective,   and    is    granted 

*  In  tni.s  work,  abovp,  pp.  86 — 7. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         95 

only  on  repentance.  And  the  necessity  of  it  lies 
in  the  circumstance,  that  akhough  we  may  have 
been  punished  for  our  sins,  and  been  exercised  with 
the  most  deep  and  pungent  sorrow  for  them,  and 
most  thoroughly  reformed,  yet  all  this  does  not 
make  amends  for  the  mischief  our  wrong  acts  may 
have  done,  nor  remove  the  guilt  we  have  incurred, 
from  our  souls.  It  is  the  office  of  pardon  or  forgive- 
ness to  accomplish  this  work,  and  place  us  before 
God  as  though  we  had  never  sinned,  and  as  free 
from  feelings  of  guilt,  that  we  may  begin  the  world 
anew,  with  new  aims  and  object,  new  purposes  and 
pursuits,  and  in  a  new  course  of  life.  Thus  do 
punishment  and  forgiveness  harmonize  ;  thus  it  is, 
that  all  tjie  world  is  guilty  before  God;  and  thus 
that  no  man  can  claim  the  blessedness  of  heaven, 
as  a  matter  of  right,  a  demand  of  justice.  These 
principles  apply  to  all  worlds  under  the  government 
of  the  Infinite  Father  ;  as  truly  to  the  present  as 
the  future,  and  to  the  future  as  to  the  present ;  for 
the  laws  of  the  Almighty  are  immutable  and 
eternal.  They  are  "  without  variableness  or  the 
shadow  of  turninf?,"  like  his  own  nature. 


96  universalist's  assistant. 


SECTION  IX. THE  NECESSITY  OF  REPENTANCE 

"Upon  the  supposition  that  this  doctrine  is  true,  repent- 
ance is  useless  ;  there  is  no  need  of  religion  of  any  kind ; 
no  connexion  exists  between  religion  and  salvation."  * 

There  is  a  recklessness  of  truth  and  a  disregard 
of  common  sense,  as  well  as  of  the  repeated  asser- 
tions of  Universalists,  about  this  objection,  which 
hardly  entitle  it  to  a  serious  consideration.  Still,  it 
is  so  common  an  objection,  and  urged  with  such  a 
wonderful  pertinacity,  from  all  quarters,  and  em- 
braces so  wide  a  range  of  subjects,  that  it  may  not 
be  passed  in  silence,  lest  it  should  be  supposed  that 
it  is  unanswerable.  It  is  an  objection  which  not 
only  applies  to  religion  itself,  but  to  all  its  applian- 
ces. It  assumes,  that  if  the  doctrine  of  universal 
salvation  is  true,  religion  itself,  worship,  and  all  the 
rites  and  forms  of  religion  are  rendered  entirely 
unnecessary,  and  utterly  useless.  In  reply  to  this 
I  remark, 

1.  That  this  objection  is  founded  in  the  idea,  that 
the  number  saved  will  render  the  means  of  salvation 
unnecessary.  But  I  would  like  to  know  by  what 
process  of  logic  this  is  made  out.  How  is  it  pos- 
sible that  the  relative  necessity  of  the  use  of  the 
means  of  salvation,  can  be  affected  by  the  number 
to  be  saved  ?     If  certain   means  are  necessary  to 

*  Tract  350,  pp.  22,  23. 


miscella:neous  objections  considered.      97 

effect  the  salvation  of  one  man,  are  they  net  equally- 
necessary  to  secure  that  of  all  other  men  ;  and 
if  these  means  will  attain  salvation  for  one  man, 
why  will  they  not  secure  it  for  all  men  ?  So  if 
religion  and  all  its  appliances  are  necessary  to  the 
attainment  of  one  man's  salvation,  and  they  will 
secure  it  for  him,  w^hy  are  they  not  equally  neces- 
sary, and  why  may  they  not  secure  the  salvation 
of  every  other  man  ?  It  surely  is  so  ;  and  hence, 
whether  there  is  but  one  man  to  be  saved,  or  the 
lohole  race,  cannot  have  any  bearing  upon  the  neces- 
sity of  means  and  the  use  of  those  means,  for  the 
attainment  of  that  end. 

2.  I  remark,  that  this  objection  proceeds  upon 
the  assumption,  that  Universalists  are  so  ignorant 
and  stupid,  as  to  deny  all  relation  between  means 
and  ends,  cause  and  effect.  But  I  need  not  tell  any 
man  of  a  moderate  share  of  intelligence,  and  who 
has  taken  any  pains  to  inform  himself,  that  they 
are  not  quite  so  foolish  as  this,  and  with  their  writ- 
ings before  him,  it  must  have  required  an  unusual 
share  of  impudence,  and  a  most  reckless  hardihood 
in  any  man,  to  have  deliberately  wTitten  such  a  par- 
agraph as  that  at  the  head  of  this  section ;  for 
everywhere,  in  their  books,  must  he  have  seen, 
that  no  writers  ever  kept  more  distinctly  in  view 
cause  and  efTect,  or  more  strenuously  contended 
for  the  most  intimate  relation  between  means  and 

ends. 

9 


98  universalist's  assistant. 

The  fact  is,  Universalisls  believe  as  much  in 
the  necessity  of  the  use  of  meaiis  to  secure  salva- 
tion, as  any  other  people.  They  regard  faith  and 
repentance  as  indispensable  to  its  attainment,  and 
as  fully  believe  no  man  can  be  saved  without  their 
exercise,  as  any  persons  possibly  can.  No  men  are 
more  thoroughly  persuaded  that  no  flesh  can  be 
saved,  nor  a  single  soul  exalted  to  heaven,  with- 
out the  use  of  the  appropriate  means  furnished  by 
divine  grace — the  use  of  religion  and  all  its  appli- 
ances— the  exercise  of  faith  and  repentance,  the 
fruit  of  religion,  than  are  all  serious  and  reflecting 
Univcrsalists,  Were  this  not  the  case,  why  should 
they  erect  churches  at  so  great  cost,  and  sometimes 
sacrifice  of  time  and  means,  maintain  the  preaching 
of  the  word  and  all  the  ordinances  of  religion  in 
those  churches,  and  endow  and  maintain  Sabbath 
Schools  ?  Their  very  doings,  known  and  read  of 
all  men,  are  proof  enough,  in  the  absence  of  all 
other,  that  they  so  regard  the  matter. 

I  know,  indeed,  that  men  of  shallow  brains  and 
corrupt  hearts  may,  and  undoubtedly  have  perverted 
and  abused  this  doctrine,  to  its  disgrace  and  scandal, 
and  their  own  destruction,  as  they  have  every  other 
good  thing.  But  Universalists  are  not  alone  in  being 
cursed  and  scourged  with  such  hangers-on,  nor  with 
having  a  peculiarity  of  their  faith  held  in  unrigh- 
teousness, or  used  for  base  and  unworthy  purposes, 
as  the  writings  and  experience  of  all  sects  prove. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.         99 

The  precise  difference  between  those  who  hold  to 
a  numerically  limited,  and  those  who  believe  in  uni- 
versal salvation,  is,  that  these  last  believe,  that  the 
means  of  salvation  ordained  of  Heaven,  shall  be 
universally  efficient,  w^hile  the  former  hold  they 
will  be  but  partially  so.  In  other  words,  Univer- 
salists  beheve,  that  it  is  by  all  men  being  led  to  the 
exercise  of  faith  and  repentance,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  religion,  the  sanctificalion  of  their  hearts 
and  lives,  and  the  pardon  obtained  through  Jesus 
Christ,  that  all  souls  are  to  be  saved  and  exalted  to 
everlasting  blessedness.  They  hold  that  the  means 
which  will  redeem,  save,  and  render  eternally  happy 
one  soul,  will  redeem,  save,  and  render  everlastingly 
blessed  all  souls. 

But  was  it,  as  some  Universalists  hold,  that  there 
is  no  connexion  between  the  present  conduct  of  men 
and  their  future  condition,  still  religion  would  be  of 
great  consequence  to  mankind.  Even  blot  out  the 
idea  of  a  future  existence,  and  suppose  this  world 
is  the  ultima  thide,  the  utmost  bound  of  human  ex- 
istence ;  that  the  dissolution  of  the  mortal  body 
is  the  utter  and  everlasting  extinction  of  the  en- 
tire man,  of  the  me,  as  the  Transcendentalists 
would  say,  and  is  religion  of  no  value  or  impor- 
tance to  man  ?  However  much  such  views  may 
lessen  its  value  and  importance,  I  maintain,  it  is 
of  immense  value  for  the  promotion  of  the  present 
interests   and  happiness  of  mankind,  both  in  th'-' 


100  univeesalist's  assistant. 

individual  and  social  relations,  in  this  world.  To 
maintain,  that  all  the  value  and  importance  of  reli- 
gion consists  in  its  affording  the  means  of  escape 
from  the  flames  of  hell,  is  to  degrade  it  quite  as 
much  as  to  maintain,  that  it  will  exert  no  influence 
extending  beyond  this  short  life,  this  preface,  this 
introduction  to  our  being.  The  former  converts 
religion  into  a  mere  article  of  merchandize,  while 
the  latter,  if  the  worst  is  said  of  it  that  can  be, 
merely  ascribes  to  it  an  influence  much  more  lim- 
ited than  it  really  exerts. 

Our  view  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  of 
these.  I  cannot  regard  religion,  or  the  exercise  of 
faith  and  repentance,  or  the  observance  of  its  rites 
and  forms,  a  mere  device  to  escape  everlasting  per- 
dition. This  is  a  low  and  unworthy  view  of  its 
nature  and  objects.  Nor  can  I  consider  it  as  exert- 
ing so  narrow  and  limited  an  influence  as  some 
imagine,  although  I  should  agree  with  them,  as  to 
the  nature,  character  and  the  objects  of  that  influ- 
ence, so  far  as  they  extend.  But  they  confine  them 
within  too  narrow  limits — limits  which  greatly  di- 
minish the  necessity  and  importance  of  the  exercise 
of  faith  and  repentance,  and  the  observance  of  the 
rites  and  forms  of  religion.  My  view  is  that  all 
these  things  contribute  to  the  formation  of  character^ 
and  that  the  character  we  form  here  will  determine 
our  condition  upon  our  entrance  into  the  world  of 
spirits ;  which  condition  can  be  changed  only  by  a 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.       101 

change  of  the  character.  It  is  that  ultimate  resuh  of 
the  habits  of  thought,  feeling  and  action  upon  the 
soul  itself,  which  we  call  character,  not  the  external 
circumstances  of  the  individual,  that  determines  the 
essential  happiness  or  misery  of  every  human  being, 
no  matter  where  they  are — whether  in  this  world 
or  in  the  future. 


SECTION     X. UNIVERSALISM     NOT      NEEDED      BY     THE 

TRUE    CHRISTIAN. 

'•  It  cannot  be  concealed,  and  perhaps  will  not  be  denied, 
that  the  primary  motive  which  has  led  men  to  Universal  ism, 
is  the  desire  of  removing  from  the  minds  of  worldly  or 
wicked  men,  the  dreadful  apprehension  of  endless  torments. 
I  say  worldly  and  wicked  men,  for  the  true  Christian  does 
not  need  this  doctrine  for  his  consolation.  He  is  safe  with- 
out it."* 


"  The  wicked  and  worldly"  are  a  class  of  persons, 
who  concern  themselves  very  little  about  any  reli- 
gious views  whatever.  All  they  suffer  from  fear, 
arising  out  of  any  religious  theories  or  doctrines,  or 
enjoy  either,  is  exceedingly  small  indeed.  Their 
minds  are  too  much  absorbed  in  the  outward  and 
material,  in  the  gratification  of  their  physical  appe- 
tites and   passions,  to  think  or   care    much   about 

*  Tract  350,  p.  7.     Lee  on  Universalism,  p.  298. 
9* 


lOS  univeksalist's  assistant. 

doctrines  or  articles  of  belief,  or  even  what  may 
await  them  hereafter.  Such  men  are  disturbed  just 
as  little  by  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  as  they 
are  comforted  by  that  of  universal  salvation.  Gal- 
lio  like,  they  care  for  none  of  these  things,  neither 
are  they  moved  by  them.  This  is  manifest,  from  the 
circumstance  before  stated,^  that  the  more  wicked  a 
community  is,  the  less  does  Universalism  prevail ; 
and  also  from  the  fact  that  all  the  most  horrible 
pirates  and  murderers  that  have  disgraced  and  out- 
raged humanity,  and  scourged  human  society,  with 
whose  history  I  am  acquainted,  were  born  and 
educated,  and  remained  undoubting  believers  in  end- 
less misery,  all  their  lives  long,  not  doubting,  when 
at  last  they  were  brought  upon  the  scaffold,  that  the 
halter  would  as  surely  hasten  their  entrance  into 
heaven,  on  an  equality  with  the  holy  apostles  and 
prophets,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect, 
as  it  would  their  exit  out  of  this  world  ;  and  this  too, 
while  they  had  as  little  doubt,  that  myriads  of  their 
race,  who  lead  blameless  and  even  useful  lives,  who 
speak  the  language  of  kindness  to  their  friends ; 
who  give  useful  instruction  to  their  children,  and 
salutary  advice  to  their  neighbors ;  who  "  have  fed 
the  hungry,  and  clothed  the  naked,  and  attended, 
with  decency,  the  public  worship  of  God,"1  would 
surely  be  eternally  damned  !     And  the  most  melan- 

*p.  63. 

'  National  Preach.,  Vol.  iv.,  p.  222  ■  No.  for  Aug.,  1829 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.      103 

choly  consideration  of  all  is,  that  clergymen  can  be 
found,  who  can  and  will  stand  on  the  scaffold,  and 
encourage  them  in  such  a  delusion,  and  publish  it  to 
the  world,  as  they  have !  What  need  have  such 
men  of  Universalism  to  save  them  from  fear  ?  Pro- 
vision is  made  for  them  in  its  opposite,  in  a  far  more 
ample  degree,  than  Universalism  dares  to  promise. 
Few  of  its  preachers  could  be  found,  who  would 
stand  upon  the  scaffold,  beside  a  monster  so  defiled 
with  sin  and  crime,  that  the  loathing  earth  would  no 
longer  endure  his  presence,  and  encourage  him  to 
think,  however  deep  and  sincere  his  repentance,  that 
the  eternal  world  will  open  upon  his  soul  with  as 
bright  glories  and  as  high  enjoyments,  as  upon  that 
of  the  martyred  Stephen  or  the  sainted  John  ;  or  tell 
the  motley  crew,  assembled  to  witness  his  execution, 
that  he  so  believed.  Universalism  has  no  such 
comforts  for  those  who  have  devoted  their  lives  to 
vice  and  crime,  and  the  commission  of  the  foulest 
abominations,  when  about  to  be  thrust  out  of  the 
world  by  the  executioner's  hand ;  while  it  refuses 
the  hope  of  future  bliss  to  those  who  lead  virtuous, 
good  and  useful  lives,  and  at  last,  in  a  good  old  age, 
close  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  in  their  own  beds, 
surrounded  by  their  families  and  friends  ! 

And  then,  in  regard  to  the  statement  that  "  the 
true  Christian  does  not  need  this  doctrine  for  his 
consolation,"  I  do  not  know  but  it  may  be  so.  If  it 
is  thus,  I  would  hke  to  know  how  many  among  the 


104  universalist's  assistant. 

believers  in  endless  misery  would  be  found  trim 
Christians,  when  brought  to  this  test.  What  are  the 
facts  ?  Do  we  not  on  all  hands  hear  the  confession, 
from  those  persons,  that  they  are  constantly  haunted 
with  doubts  and  fears  as  to  what  may  be  their  con- 
dition in  another  world ;  and  do  not  much  the  larger 
portion  of  the  believers  in  this  terrible  doctrine, 
rather  yield  themselves  up  to  fate,  with  a  vague  and 
indefinite  hope  that  God  will  treat  them  kindly  after 
their  bodies  die,  than  have  a  firm  and  unwavering 
faith  in  future  bliss,  that  triumphs  in  the  hour  of 
mortal  dissolution  ?  If  such  is  not  the  fact,  how  are 
we  to  explain  the  circumstance,  that  it  has  come  to  be 
a  doctrine  of  these  people,  that  doubts  and  fears  con- 
cerning our  future  prospects  are  an  evidence  of  oui 
piety  ?  Why  are  individuals  told,  as  I  know  they 
have  been,  that  they  have  good  reason  to  doubt  the 
genuineness  of  their  piety,  because  such  was  the 
strength  of  their  faith,  that  they  were  not  troubled 
with  doubts  and  fears  ?'^ 

Beside,  "  true  Christians  "  are  not  so  superlatively 
selfish,  as  to  care  nothing  about  the  fate  of  others,  if 
so  be,  that  they  are  safe  themselves.  Such  persons 
feel  as  deep  an  interest  in  the  salvation  of  other 
men,  as  they  do  in  their  own  ;  for  they  love  their 

*  "But,  lately,  the  very  absence  of  doubt  has  caused  me 
to  doubt ;  for  if  I  were  a  child  of  God,  how  should  I  be  free 
from  those  doubts  which  trouble  his  children  ?"  Life  of 
Payson,  p.  54,  American  Tract  Soc.  Ed. 


MISCELLANEOUS   OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.      105 

neighbor  as  themselves.  No  "  true  Christian  "  can 
be  satisfied  with  a  hope  merely  for  himself.  He 
wants  a  hope  for  others,  to  give  him  all  the  "  conso- 
lation "  he  needs  ;  yea,  for  everybodij.  When  a  true 
Christian,  who  believes  the  doctrine  "  of  endless  tor- 
ments," looks  about  upon  his  fellow-men,  and  sees 
how  many,  even  of  his  cherished  friends,  and  may 
be  his  own  dearest  children,  there  are,  for  w^hom  he 
can  indulge  no  hope,  according  to  his  received  faith, 
what  anxiet}:'  and  fear  seizes  upon  his  mind,  upon 
their  account,  if  not  on  his  o^^^l !  What  bitterness 
of  soul  is  caused  to  the  purest  and  best  of  those 
among  the  believers  of  this  fearful  doctrine,  on  ac- 
count of  the  want  of  a  hope,  that  will  encircle  in  its 
embrace  all  their  kindred  and  friends !  Can  it  be 
said  then,  in  truth,  of  Universalism,  that  "  the  true 
Christian  does  not  want  this  doctrine  for  his  con- 
solation," although  "  he  is  safe  without  it  ? "  If  he 
is  safe  without  it,  others,  and  may  be  his  best 
friends,  and  his  own  children,  are  not. 

The  truth  is,  it  is  not  the  wicked  and  the  w^orldly, 
but  the  most  serious  minded,  the  purest  and  best  men, 
who  suffer  the  most  from  the  belief  of  the  doctrine  of 
<'  eternal  torments ;"  and  the  more  serious,  thought- 
ful, devout  and  tender-hearted  he  is ;  or,  in  other 
words,  the  more  truly  Christian  his  soul  becomes, 
the  more  vrill  this  awful  idea  harass  and  torment  his 
mind. 


106  universalist's  assistant. 


SECTION    XI. UNIVERSALISM    PLEASING    TO    THE    CAR- 
NAL   HEART. 

The  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  is  calculated  to 
"please  and  gratify  the  desires  of  the  natural  heart." 

The  natural  heart  is  a  heart  that  is  as  God  made 
it,  before  it  has  become  hardened  and  corrupted  by 
error,  passion  and  sin.  That  such  a  heart,  all  full 
of  benevolence  and  kindness,  would  be  pleased  with 
the  idea  of  the  final  return  of  all  souls  to  God  and 
the  enjopTients  of  heaven,  I  cannot  doubt ;  nor  do  I 
regard  it  as  a  very  serious  objection  to  any  doctrine, 
that  it  is  agreeable  to  the  desires  of  such  a  heart.  I 
know,  indeed,  all  men  are  destitute  of  such  hearts, 
until  their  souls  are  renovated  by  the  sanctifying 
power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Their  minds  may 
perceive  the  beauty  of  this  idea,  in  an  unregenerate 
state,  while  their  hearts  are  estranged  from  God,  and 
under  the  perverting  and  stupefying  power  of  sin  ; 
but  they  cannot  feel  how  excellent  it  is,  until  they 
have  been  converted  and  become  like  little  children. 
Then,  when  the  individual  looks  about  him,  and 
sees  how  much  sin  and  misery  there  is  in  the  world, 
it  is  a  delight  to  his  heart  to  hope  and  beheve,  that 
a  time  will  come,  v/hen  all  this  misery,  and  the  sin 
which  is  its  cause,  shall  come  to  an  end,  and  those 
held  in  its  slavery,  brought  into  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  sons  of  God,  and  every  heart  attuned  in  har- 
mony with  the  great  Heart  of  the  universe. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.       107 

I  am  aware,  however,  that  this  is  not  what  is 
meant  by  the  phrase  "  natural  heart "  in  the  objection 
under  consideration.  I  know  it  is  intended  to  con- 
vey the  same  idea  as  the  apostle  does  by  the  phrase 
^'■carnal  mind.''''  What  sort  of  a  mind  is  this? 
This  can  be  determined  the  best  from  the  works  it 
does,  which  we  will  let  the  same  apostle  describe. 
"  Adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness, 
idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations, 
wrath,  strife,  seditions,  divisions,  envyings,  mur- 
ders, drunkenness,  revilings,  and  such  like."^  It 
is  the  opposite  of  the  spiritual  mind,  whose  fruits 
are  "  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness, 
goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance."! 

Such,  then,  is  the  carnal  mind.  It  is  a  mind 
under  the  control  of  unworthy  and  corrupt  principles 
and  feelings  Does  Universalism  coincide  with  the 
views  and  feelings  of  an  individual  in  such  a  state 
of  mind?  To  answer  this  question  there  is  no 
necessity  of  going  into  any  long  process  of  reason- 
ing. Universalism  has  already  been  defined, 1^  and 
in  view  of  that  definition,  we  may  appeal  directly  to 
facts.  Does  not  the  fact,  that  the  more  ignorant  and 
depraved  any  community  is,  the  less  Universalism 
prevails,"^  have  a  strong  bearing  upon  this  point? 
Does  not  this  circumstance  go  to  prove,  most  conclu- 

*  Gal.  5  :  19—21.  t  Gal.  5  :  22,  23. 

tpp.  8— 13.  ^  See  p.  63. 


108  universalist's  assistant. 

sively,  that  Universalism  does  not  harmonize  with 
the  desires  and  feelings  of  the  carnal  heart  ?  If  it  is 
not  so,  how  happens  it,  that  the  greatest  success  at- 
tends the  efforts  to  extend  this  doctrine,  in  the  most 
enlightened  and  virtuous  communities,  and  the  least, 
yea  that  all  efforts  are  nearly  abortive,  in  communi- 
ties of  a  different  character  ? 

Beside  this,  go  to  the  proud,  the  haughty,  the 
tyrannical,  the  malicious  and  the  hating,  and  preach 
Universalism  to  them ;  tell  them  that  God  is  as  well 
disposed  toward  those  they  despise,  contemn,  hate 
and  trample  upon,  and  that  Christ  has  done  as  much 
for  their  salvation,  and  that  they  will  be  brought 
down  to  a  level,  and  perhaps  thrust  below  these  per- 
sons, in  the  world  to  come,  and  will  it  please  and 
gratify  their  hearts  ?  Go  to  an  individual  whose 
soul  is  in  a  storm  of  passion,  and  preach  to  him  that 
the  object  of  his  rage  is  his  brother,  and  destined  to 
the  realms  of  everlasting  blessedness,  and  will  the 
idea  harmonize  with  the  feelings  of  his  heart?  Not 
at  all.  The  desire  of  his  heart  will  be  to  hurl  the 
thunder-bolts  of  heaven  at  those  with  whom  he  is 
offended.  Hence,  how  often  do  we  hear  the  remark, 
"  Were  it  not  for  such  and  such  men,  I  should  be  a 
Universalist !  There  ought  to  be  a  hell  for  such 
men  ;  and  if  they  are  going  to  heaven,  I  do  not  wish 
to  go  there  !  "  When  in  fact  the  persons  concern- 
ing whom  the  remarks  are  made,  are  really  better 
men  than  the  individual  who  makes  them.     Upon 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIIERED.      109 

this  point  we  might  fairly  turn  the  tables  upon  those 
who  believe  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery.  That 
fearful  doctrine  perfectly  harmonizes  with  the  feel- 
ings and  wishes  of  a  man  burning  with  wrath  and 
vengeance.  And  hence,  when  an  individual  be- 
comes angry  with  any  one,  he  at  once  falls  to  curs- 
ing and  damning  him  to  hell,  or,  in  the  language  of 
Rev.  Mr.  McClure, "  They  (UniversaHsts)  commonly 
swear  Orthodox  oaths.  Of  this  fact  ever^^body  is 
aware.  Let  them  get  angr^^  and  you  hear  nothing 
but  hell,  and  the  devil,  and  damnation."^ 


SECTION    XII. A    UNIVERSALIST     MEETING   IN    A   NEW 

PLACE. 

"  Who  are  they  that  usually  compose  the  audience  of  a 
Universalist  preacher  ?  Are  they  the  most  sober  and  intel- 
ligent part  of  the  community  ?  .  .  .  ,  Are  they  not  rather 
those  whom  the  Bible  would  designate  as  wicked,  prayer- 
less,  impenitent,  irreligious  persons ;  those  who  make  a 
mock  of  experimental  religion,  and  habitually  neglect  the 
duties  of  practical  piety  ?  "  f 

If  this  is  applied  to  the  established  congregations 
of  the  Universalist  denomination,  a  fouler  and  more 

*  Lectures  on  Universalisra,  Lecture  2,.  first  Edition.  In 
his  second  edition  he  struck  out  this  confession,  so  full  of 
truth,  because  so  much  to  the  discredit  of  his  own  theology, 
and  in  honor  of  Universalism ;  for  it  is  an  admission  that  a 
Universalist  cannot  swear  consistently  with  his  faith. 

t  Tract  221.  p.  54-5,  and  p.  7,  et  seq. 

10 


110  universallst's  assistant. 

malicious  and  slanderous  libel  could  not  be  uttered, 
than  is  implied  in  these  questions,  and  the  state- 
ments to  which  they  refer.  For  respectability, 
intelligence,  and  virtue,  their  congregations  will  not 
suffer,  when  compared  with  any  of  those  professing 
the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment.  But  if  these 
questions  relate  merely  to  the  congregations  which 
come  together  \\\q  first  time  a  Universalist  preacher 
makes  his  appearance  in  a  place,  and  particularly  in 
a  large  town,  I  am  free  to  confess  the  implication 
contains  considerable  truth,  though  not  fully  cor- 
rect. And  the  question  arises — Why  is  it  so? 
How  does  it  happen  ?  I  do  not  hesitate  to  charge 
it  all  upon  the  unrighteous  representations  made  of 
Universalism,  by  those  who  oppose  it.  This  I  will 
now  attempt  to  show. 

In  the  first  place,  I  remark  negatively,  that  these 
deists,  profane  svv^earers,  neglecters  of  public  wor- 
ship, violators  of  the  Sabbath,  lewd,  intemperate 
and  loose  persons,  who  come  together  to  listen  to 
the  first  promulgation  of  Universalism  in  a  place, 
cannot  be  influenced  by  the  ideas  of  the  doctrine,  as 
understood  and  promulgated  by  its  believers,  because 
they  have  had  no  opportunity  to  become  acquainted 
with  it,  from  this  source.  Whence,  then,  did  they 
derive  their  notions  about  this  doctrine,  which  they 
construe  into  a  justification  of  their  vile  and  unprin- 
cipled course  of  conduct  ?  There  is  but  one  source 
from  which  they  could  possibly  have  derived  their 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.      Ill 

notions  of  it,  from  the  very  circumstances  of  the 
case,  and  that  is,  from  its  enemies,  in  the  occasional 
warnings  against  it,  and  the  descriptions  of  its 
dreadful  character,  from  pulpits  opposed  to  it,  and 
from  tracts  and  books,  written  more  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  odium  upon,  than  confuting  it. 

Now,  I  maintain,  that  these  shameless  caricatures 
of  Universalism,  are  just  what  is  calculated  to  please 
and  gratify  the  vilest  of  mankind  ;  to  encourage 
them  to  continue  in  their  sins ;  and  lead  them  to 
expect  a  Universalist  meeting,  to  be  a  grand  rally 
of  the  kingdom  of  Satan.  Just  look  at  the  way  in 
which  it  is  represented.  People  are  told  that  Uni- 
versahsts  preach  that  the  foulest  whelp  of  sin,  the 
moment  he  dies,  will  go  right  into  heaven,  without 
the  slightest  change  of  character,  all  reeking  with 
the  pollutions  of  sin  and  iniquity,  direct  from  the 
filthiest  and  most  abominable  stews  of  the  realm  of 
sin,  to  be  the  companions  of  holy  apostles,  and 
prophets,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect; 
that  it  will  make  no  difference  what  men  do,  if  they 
only  contrive  to  keep  out  of  the  hands  of  the  civil 
authority;  and  finally,  that  the  sinner  is  just  as 
well  off,  if  not  much  better,  than  the  righteous. 
And  sometimes  it  is  recommended  to  men,  if  they 
believe  Universalism,  that  they  plunge  into  all 
manner  of  sin ;  that  they  run  riot  with  iniquity,  and 
when  tired  of  this  dignified  and  worthy  amusement, 
to  hasten  their  entrance  into  paradise,  with  the  use 


113  universalist's  assistant. 

of  the  pistol,  the  halter,  the  water,  or  by  poison  in 
some  form. 

What  could  be  more  pleasing  to  the  vilest,  most 
shameless  and  debauched  of  mankind,  whose  hearts 
are  fully  set  upon  doing  evil,  than  such  notions  ? 
and  what  more  alarming  to  the  friends  of  good  order, 
sobriety,  morality  and  religion  ?  Such  sentiments 
most  undoubtedly  strengthen  the  hands  of  the 
wicked,  and  make  sad  the  hearts  of  the  righteous. 
Hence,  in  all  places  where  little  or  nothing  is 
known  of  Universalism,  except  from  its  enemies^  all 
the  most  worthless  and  abandoned  men  in  the  com- 
munity, swear  they  are  Universalists ;  and  if  an 
appointment  happens  to  be  made  in  the  place,  they 
are  in  ecstacies,  fully  anticipating,  that  they  shall  be 
confirmed  and  strengthened  in  the  unhallowed 
views  they  have  of  Universalism,  and  thus  be 
encouraged  in  their  course  of  ruin  and  death.  And 
the  minister,  ignorant  of  the  actual  state  of  things, 
may  be  instrumental,  in  some  degree,  of  confirming 
these  impressions,  by  devoting  all  his  energies  to 
proving  the  single  point  of  universal  salvation. 
But  who  is  responsible  for  all  this  mischief?  I 
answer,  its  enemies. 

That  such  is  the  case,  is  fully  proved  by  the 
fact,  that  if,  in  process  of  time,  a  Universalist  min- 
ister should  be  settled  in  that  same  place,  where  all 
the  dens  of  sin  were  filled  with  rejoicing  at  the 
idea  of  having  a  Universalist  meeting,  these  same 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.       113 

persons  will  soon  change  their  tune,  and  instead  of 
being  constant,  punctual  and  zealous  patrons,  sup- 
porters and  attendants  of  the  meetings,  their  zeal 
will  begin  to  cool ;  they  will  begin  to  be  only  occa- 
sional attendants,  and  finally  abandon  the  meeting 
ahogether,  muttering  that  it  is  Tiot  what  they  ex- 
pected, or  swearing  outright,  that  "  this  Universalist 

minister  is worse  than  the  Orthodox  ! " 

With  these  startling  facts  before  us,  I  ask,  who  is 
responsible  for  this  temporary  encouragement,  given 
to  these  miserable  persons,  in  their  course  of  sin  and 
iniquity,  and  which  would  have  been  permanent, 
but  for  an  opportunity  being  presented  to  the 
believers  of  Universalism,  to  speak  for  themselves  ? 
Not  its  friends  surely ;  for  as  soon  as  they  secured 
a  fair  opportunity  to  be  heard,  these  delusions  were 
soon  dispelled.  But  it  is  chargeable  entirely  to  its 
enemies  ;  and  this  wretched  delusion  would  have 
remained  upon  the  minds  of  these  miserable  sinners, 
and  they  have  derived  encouragement  from  what 
they  supposed  to  be  Universalism,  until  the  light 
of  the  eternal  world  dawned  upon  their  souls,  if  its 
friends  and  believers  had  not  have  secured  the 
opportunity  of  dissipating  it.  And  this  is  undoubt- 
edly the  case,  in  multitudes  of  places,  where  the 
enemies  of  Universalism  hold  undisturbed  dominion. 
Muhitudes  of  persons  are  sent  blindfold  to  per- 
dition, from  such  places,  by  the  misrepresentations 
and  caricatures  of  this  doctrine. 
10^ 


114  universaust's  assistant. 

Could  I  reach  the  ears  of  those  ministers,  who 
indulge  in  these  misrepresentations  of  Universalism, 
I  would  tell  them,  they  are  not  only  incurring  the 
guilt  of  slander,  by  pursuing  such  a  course  and 
indulging  in  this  kind  of  opposition ;  but  perverting 
and  corrupting  public  morals,  by  strengthening  the 
hands  of  the  wicked,  and  giving  them  encourage- 
ment and  comfort  in  their  sins.  And  I  would  beg 
of  them  to  entirely  change  the  character  of  their 
opposition,  if  not  from  the  fear  of  God,  from  regard 
to  man  and  the  morals  of  society.  If  they  do  not, 
sure  I  am,  that  the  light  of  eternity  will  make  sad 
revelations  to  their  souls,  and  they  will  have  a  fear- 
ful account  to  render,  at  the  bar  of  the  Almighty. 


115 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  ORIGINAL  WORDS  RENDERED  EVERLASTING, 
ETERNAL,  ETC.,  CONSIDERED  AS  AN  OBJEC- 
TION TO  UNIVERSALISM. 

SECTION    I. PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 

In  this  and  the  subsequent  chapters,  I  shall  exam- 
ine the  objection  urged  against  Universalism,  drawn 
from  the  Scriptures,  and  founded  upon  the  use  of  the 
words  rendered  everlasting,  eternal,  etc.,  and  those 
translated  hell,  grave,  etc.,  in  our  common  version 
of  the  Bible.  It  will  be  my  aim  not  only  to  meet 
the  arguments,  by  which  the  popular  interpretation 
of  them,  is  attempted  to  be  sustained,  but  to  show 
affirmatively,  the  meaning  we  should  attach  to  them, 
as  used  in  the  Scriptures. 

I  am  aware  that  this  is  a  subject,  which  involves 
much  learned  inquir}^  and  relates  to  languages  with 
which  few  of  my  readers  are  acquainted,  or  even  the 
alphabet  of  which  they  can  read.  These  are  very 
serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  making  the  subject 
intelligible  to  common  readers,  and  enabling  them 
to  perceive  the  full  force  of  all  the  arguments  that 
will  be  used.  But  I  shall  endeavor  to  keep  the  text 
as  free  from  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin  words,  as  the 


116  universalist's  assistant. 

nature  of  the  subject  will  admit,  and  throw  as  many 
of  the  quotations,  I  shall  find  it  necessary  to  make, 
in  these  languages,  into  notes  in  the  margin,  as  pos- 
sible, putting  only  the  translation  in  the  text.  In 
this  way,  I  hope  to  free  my  remarks  from  much  of 
the  obscurity,  to  common  minds,  which  invariably 
attaches  to  a  discussion,  when  there  is  a  frequent 
recurrence  of  words  in  a  foreign  language. 

My  remarks  will  be  confined  to  the  original 
words,  rather  than  to  the  English  rendering  of  them, 
because  the  controversy  is  only  in  relation  to  those, 
and  the  correctness  of  the  English  translation  of 
them.  Had  the  Scriptures  have  been  written  at  this 
day,  and  in  the  English  language,  there  could  have 
been  no  controversy  in  relation  to  the  meaning  of 
those  passages,  where  these  terms  occur  ;  for  the 
English  words  have  a  well  defined  and  universally 
admitted  meaning.  But  it  is  not  so  with  regard  to 
the  original  Scriptures.  They  were  written  in  a  re- 
mote country  and  period  of  the  world's  history,  amid 
circumstances,  scenery,  manners,  customs  and  habits 
of  thought,  modes  of  expression,  and  in  languages 
widely  different,  in  almost  every  respect,  from  our 
own.  Hence  the  necessity  of  philology  and  inter- 
pretation, upon  the  correct  use  of  which,  the  verity 
and  accuracy  of  all  translations  do  and  must  depend, 
as  all  scholars  know  full  well. 

I  know,  indeed,  there  is  a  disposition  in  a  certain 
class  of  minds,  to  regard  all  questions  as  to  the  oor- 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  117 

rectness  of  the  translation  of  any  words  or  phrases, 
in  our  common  version  of  the  Scriptures,  as  tamper- 
ing with  the  Bible  itself;  and  I  regret  to  say,  that 
too  many  may  be  found,  who  ought  to  know  better, 
if  they  do  not,  that  are  willing,  and  actually  do  allow 
themselves  to  foster  this  prejudice.  But  it  should 
ever  be  borne  in  mind,  by  all  persons,  that  all  trans- 
lations of  the  Scriptures,  are  but  the  fallible  judg- 
ment of  fallible  men,  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
original ;  and  of  course  that  their  translation  is  the 
legitimate  subject  of  criticism.  A  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  has  and  can  have,  from  the  very  nature 
of  things,  no  other  authority  than  is  imparted  to  it 
by  the  abilities,  attainments  and  character  of  the 
translator  or  translators,  and  their  fitness  for  the 
work.  And  the  accuracy  and  fidelity  of  a  transla- 
tion can  be  determined,  only  by  an  actual  compari- 
son with  the  original,  about  the  precise  meaning  of 
which,  in  m.any  instances,  the  most  impartial,  can- 
did and  thoroughly  qualified  may  honestly  differ. 

The  subjects  I  propose  to  discuss,  in  the  following 
pages,  are  those  upon  which  much  has  been  writ- 
ten upon  both  sides  ;  and  much  which  the  authors 
never  thought  of,  as  having  a  theological  bearing, 
but  as  mere  matters  of  criticism.  Hence  it  will  not 
be  my  aim,  nor  shall  I  pretend  to  present  anything 
particularly  new  or  original,  upon  these  subjects.  I 
shall  aim  only  to  collect,  in  as  brief  a  space  as  pos- 
sible, all  the  information  I  can  command,  in  relate' 


118  tjniversalist's  assistant. 

to  them,  and  present  the  matter  in  my  own  way. 
The  only  merit  that  will  be  claimed  for  this  compi- 
laiioUy  for  it  will  be  little  else,  is  diligence  and 
faithfulness  in  collecting  the  materials,  and  candor 
and  impartiality  in  presenting  them.  If  this  is 
secured,  I  shall  attain  the  height  of  my  ambition, 
and  doubtless  render  a  service  to  my  fellow-Chris- 
tians. With  the  hope  that  such  may  be  the  result, 
the  matter  is  presented  to  the  consideration  of  all 
candid  and  intelligent  Christians. 


SECTION    II. ADMISSIONS    OF    THOSE    OPPOSED    TO  UNI- 

VERSALISM. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  words  aion 
and  aionios^  are  "  sometimes  used  to  signify  a  lim- 
ited duration."!  This  being  the  case,  of  course, 
these  terms  cannot,  of  themselves,  in  all  cases, 
express  an  endless  duration,  nor,  indeed,  can  they 

*  The  first  of  these  words,  alwv^  is  a  noun,  and  the  other, 
aidniog,  is  an  adjective  derived  from  utMv.  In  this  discus- 
sion I  shall  consider  these  words  together,  as  the  same, 
because  they  evidently  bear  the  same  general  ineaning, 
from  their  near  affinity  to  each  other.  In  quoting  texts,  I 
shall  make  no  distinctions,  in  regard  to  these  words,  as  a 
general  thing.  I  wish  also  here  to  state  once  for  all,  that 
when  it  is  necessary  to  use  Greek  or  Hebrew  words  in  the 
text,  I  shall  put  them  in  English  letters,  and  thus  confine 
Hebrew  and  Greek  characters  entirely  to  the  notes.  I  do 
this,  that  the  subject  may  be  the  more  intelligible  to  the 
mere  English  reader. 

t  Tract  224,  p.  IH. 


THE    KENDEUi^'G    OF    ORIGINAL    \VOKD:j.  119 

do  this  in  any  case,  if  this  admission  is  correct. 
This  sense  must  be  imparted  to  those  terms  from 
the  subject  to  which  it  is  applied,  or  something  in 
connexion  with  it,  if  they  bear  this  sense  at  all. 
This  seems  to  be  a  natural  inference  from  the  ad- 
mission made.  But  it  is  not  so  regarded  by  the 
objector. 

Hence  the  following  rule  is  laid  do\\m  by  w^hich 
10  determine  their  mea.ning  in  such  cases  as  the 
admission  is  founded  upon.  "  When  the  word 
aibnios  is  applied  to  hills  and  mountains,  as  it 
sometimes  is  in  the  Bible,  we  know,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  that  it  has  a  limited  meaning ; 
but  when  applied  to  things  which  in  their  nature 
are  capable  of  an  endless  duration,  and  there  is 
nothing  in  the  connexion  to  limit  its  meaning,  we 
are  bound  to  understand  it  in  its  unlimited  sense. "=^ 

Although  this  rule  is  framed  with  an  especial 
reference  to  the  case  in  hand,  and  quite  as  much  to 
favor  the  views  of  the  objector  as  the  facts  in  the 
case  w^ll  warrant,  still  it  will  be  seen,  after  all,  that 
he  is  compelled  to  admit  the  principle  Universalists 
contend  for,  much  as  he  has  endeavored  to  cover  it 
up,  by  the  unnecessary  multiplication  of  words. 
He  admits  that  the  exteiit  of  the  duration  expressed 
by  these  terms,  is  to  be  determined  in  each  individ- 
ual case,  by  the  subject  to  which  they  are  applied 
and  the  connexion  in  which  they  occur.     Even  in 

*  Tract  224.  p.  17. 


120 


UNIVERSALIST  S    ASSISTANT. 


those  cases  where  he  would  seem  to  pronounce, 
a  priori,  that  they  express  an  endless  duration,  he 
admits  it  may  be  necessary  to  examine  "  the  con- 
Ttexion'''  before  the  matter  can  fairly  be  put  to  rest, 
or  authoritatively  determined. 

Thus,  while  the  objector  would  seem  to  deny  the 
position  claimed  by  the  Universalist,  he,  in  eflfect, 
admits  it ;  and  this  admission  is  all  that  is  needed 
to  make  out  his  case,  so  far  as  these  terms  are 
applied  to  punishment.  For  with  this  admission, 
upon  all  fair  logical  principles,  he  has  a  right  to 
assume,  that  these  terms  express  only  a  limited 
duration,  when  applied  to  punishment,  until  it  is 
shown,  that  there  is  something  in  the  nature  of 
punishment,  or  in  the  connexions  where  they  are 
used,  which  make  it  necessary  that  they  should  be 
taken  in  the  sense  of  endless.  This  is  the  affirma- 
tive position,  which  is  always  the  side  to  be  proved. 
It  is  always  illogical  and  unfair  to  require  any  one 
to  prove  a  negative.,  though  it  sometimes  becomes 
necessary. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  whole  matter  of 
the  duration  of  punishment,  so  far  as  these  words 
are  concerned,  might  be  safely  rested  upon  these 
admissions.  But  there  are  other  arguments  by 
which  it  is  attempted  to  fix  upon  these  terms,  the 
sense  of  "  absolute  eternity."  Many  of  these  are 
exceedingly  plausible  to   a  mere    English   reader 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  121 

and  those  who  have  never  gone  into  a  thorough 
investigation  of  the  matter,  and  they  will  now  claim 
our  serious  and  deliberate  attention  and  consid- 
eration. 


SECTION  III. THE  ARGUMENTS,  BY  WHICH  IT  IS  AT- 
TEMPTED TO  FIX  UPON  THE  TERMS  AION  AND 
AIONIOS  THE  SENSE  OF  ENDLESS  DURATION,  CON- 
SIDERED. 

''1.  These  terms  do,  in  their  original  and  proper  sense, 
denote  duration  without  end.  This  is  evident  from  their 
derivation ;  being  formed  of  the  two  Greek  words,  aei  and 
on ;  which  properly  signify  always  existing."  * 

Now  the  truth  is,  there  is  no  such  agreement 
among  grammarians  and  lexicographers,  in  regard 
to  the  derivation  of  these  terms,  as  the  above  state- 
ment implies  ;  for  beside  the  derivation  there  named, 
two  others  have  been  suggested,  if  not  maintained. 
Mr.  Goodwin,  a  ripe  and  accurate  scholar,  says,  "  It 
is  not  necessary  to  form  aion  by  a  composition  of 
aei  and  on.  It  mny  arise  much  more  naturally  and 
more  in  the  common  order  of  things,  from  the  verb 
aio.i  It  need  only  be  its  present  active  participle 
converted  into  a  substantive,  according  to  a  common 
usage  of  the  Greek  language."  t     "  Its  proper  force, 

*  Tract  224,  pp.  16,  17.  f  a'iw. 

X  Christian  Examiner,  No.  for  March,  1831,  Art.  4,  p.  42. 

II 


122  universalist's  assistant. 

in  reference  to  dicratio7i,  seems  to  be  more  that  of 
unintemtpted  duration  than  otherwise ;  a  term  of 
which  the  duration  is  continuous^  so  long  as  it  lasts, 
but  which  may  be  completed  and  finished ;  as  age^ 
dispensation^  sccculum,  in  a  general  sense."  ^  It 
has  been  suggested  from  another  source,  though 
not  one  entitled  to  so  much  reliance,  that  it  is 
"  derived  from  aiaf\'  a  poetical  word  meaning  the 
earth  or  world,  and  otz  I  as  a  participle  of  e'uai,^  to 
exist."  II  Even  Prof.  Stuart  admits  these  terms 
have  a  "  meaning  sometimes  attached"  to  them, 
which  plainly  shows  them  to  have  been  derived 
from  flfojIF  which  he  very  summarily  pronounces 
"a  mistaken  derivation." ^"^  But  were  it  com- 
pounded as  the  objector  maintains,  the  inference  he 
draws,  is  by  no  means  a  necessary  inference  ;  for 
then  "  the  original  root  is  the  verb  (z5,it  which 
signifies  to  hreathe.^''  XX  Beside,  the  sense  of  w^ords 
depends  more  upon  usage  than  upon  their  deriva- 
tion ;  for  this  often  gives  a  meaning  to  words, 
which  bears  not  the  slightest  affinity  to  what  might 
be  expected,  from  the  derivation. ^^ 

*  Christian  Examiner,  No.  for  March,  1831,  p.  12. 

i  a'la.         "lor.         ^  s/wi.         ||  James  Hall.         ^  atw. 

**  Exegetical  Essays,  p.  15.  Also  a  reply,  in  Christian 
Examiner,  for  March,  1831,  p.  34,  et  scq. 

tt  « •'•     itt  Christian  Examiner,  No.  for  March,  1831,  p.  43. 

<5><^  "  Etymology  is  not  conclusive  evidence  of  the  meaning 

of  words It  does  not  afford  that  positive  evidence, 

which  would  justify  us  in  affirming  with  certainty,  this  or 
that  to  have  been  the  indisputable  meaning  of  any  particu- 


THE    RENDEEING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  123 

'■2.  Christ  and  his  aposiles,  if  they  meant  to  be  under- 
stood, must  have  used  the  terms  in  question,  according  to 
their  known  and  established  signification  at  the  time  they 
spoke  and  wrote.  Now  Josephus  informs  us,  that  the  Jews 
of  our  Saviour's  time,  especially  the  Essenes  and  the 
Pharisees,  the  two  leading  sects  among  them,  held  the  doc- 
trine of  the  endless  punishment  of  the  wicked."'* 

That  these  two  leading  sects  among  the  Jews 
believed  the  doctrme  of  eternal  punishment,  must 
be  admitted  by  all  wh.o  have  given  any  attention  to 
the  subject.  It  will  also  be  admitted,  by  all  candid 
and  fair-minded  men,  that  Christ  and  his  apostles 
"  must  have  used  the  terms  in  question,  according 
to  their  knoA^ii  and  established  signification,  at  the 
time,"  if  they  wished  to  be  understood.  And  the 
very  point  to  be  settled  is,  whether  they  used  these 
terms  to  express  an  endless  duration,  and  applied 
them  to  the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked.  If 
there  is  any  evidence  to  prove  this  point,  it  yet 
remains  to  be  adduced. 

lar  term.  Words  change  their  meaning;  oftentimes  so 
much  in  the  course  of  a  few  generations,  that  the  etymo- 
logical sense  of  a  term  may  have  been  the  true  one  among 
writers  of  one  age,  while  among  those  a  century  or  two 
later,  it  may  sustain  a  veiy  different  import.  After  etymol- 
ogy has  borne  its  witness,  we  must  next  appeal  to  those 
other  evidences  in  the  case,  which  are  more  important  and 
more  decisive  than  this."  Christ.  Examiner,  No.  for  March, 
1831,  p.  44. 

•'  Nouns  derived  from  verbs,  and  verbs  from  nouns,  do, 
by  usage,  often  acquire  a  sense  entirely  diverse  from  what 
their  etymology  would  indicate.  UsuS  et  jus  et  norma 
loquendi."     Stuart's  Exeget.  Ess.,  Appendix,  p.  155. 

*  Tract  224,  p.  17. 


124  universalist's  assistant. 

So  far  as  I  have  the  means  of  learning  the  facts, 
they  go  to  establish  the  directly  opposite  position. 
It  is  said  of  Philo,  an  Egyptian  Jew  of  the  time  of 
Christ,  and  a  believer  in  endless  misery — "  His 
favorite  epithet  for  eternal,  or  endless,  is  aidios ;  '^ 
which,  with  some  other  words  signifying  immortal, 
interminable,  etc.,  he  applies  to  future  misery.  So 
far  as  we  have  observed,  aibnios  is  never  so  ap- 
plied."! Josephus,  in  describing  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pharisees,  says — They  believed  "  the  souls  of  the 
bad  are  allotted,  aidios  ergmos,X  to  an  eternal  prison^ 
and  punished  with  aidios  fimbria,  eternal  retribu- 
tiony  In  describing  the  doctrine  of  the  Essenes, 
Josephus  says,  they  believed  "  the  souls  of  the  bad 
are  sent  to  a  dark  and  tempestuous  cavern,  full  of 
adialeiptos  timoria,^  i?icessant  punishment. ^^  II 

Now  this  is  a  very  different  phraseology  from 
that  adopted  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  in  reference 
to  the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  Not  an  instance 
can  be  pointed  out  in  the  New  Testament,  where 
they  adopt  any  such  phraseology,  or  anything 
kindred  to  it.  The  Saviour,  in  speaking  of  the 
punishment  of  the  wicked,  uniformly  adopts  the 
phrases,  kolasin  aidnion,^  or  aibniou  krisebs,^^ 
*'  eternal  punishment,"  or  "  eternal  damnation,"  as 

*  alSiog.  -J-  Universalist  Expositor,  Vol.  3,  p.  446. 

^  a'uhog  eiQyfioc.  ^  adiuXttnroc  Ti^ooQia. 

il  Universalist  Expositor,  Vol.  3,  p,  437. 
if  xo?.uaiv  aicuvior,  Matt.  25  :  46. 
*'*  aioniov  anioioc,  Mark  3  :  29, 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  125 

translated  in  our  common  version.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen,  that  Jewish  writers  of  the  time  of  our  Saviour, 
in  describing  the  duration  of  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked,  which  they  believed  to  be  endless,  used 
very  different  phraseology  from  him,  to  describe  it, 
so  far  as  single  terms  are  concerned,  to  say  nothing 
of  their  amplification  of  the  idea,  and  the  collateral 
association?.  They  call  punishment,  aidios,  or 
adialeiptos  timoria,^  while  the  Saviour  calls  it 
aibnios  krisis,  or  kolasis  aionios,  and  the  apostles, 
olethros  aibnios,  everlasting  destruction;^  and  puros 
aibnios,  eternal  fire. X 

Hence,  in  speaking  upon  this  subject,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  Jews,  both  of  Egypt  and  Palestine,  it 
has  been  said — "  It  is  important  to  observe,  that  in 
neither  country  do  we  find  it  connected  with  the 
peculiar  representations,  or  expressed  in  the  peculiar 


*  In  addition  to  what  is  in  the  text  relative  to  Jewish 
phraseology.  I  have  been  furnished  with  the  follo-wnng  by- 
Rev.  H.  Ballou,  2d,  D.  D.  '-Pliilo  applied  words  to  punish- 
ment which  mean  immortal,  interminable.  These  words  are 
aflaruTog  and  an/.svrrjoc.  At  least,  I  find  in  his  Tract  De 
Prcemiis  arid  Panis,  Tom.  ii.,  pp.  419,  420,  of  Mangey'^s 
Edition,  the  following  sentence  concerning  the  wicked : — 
tr^v  arcod^vi[ay.ovTa  ail,  xui  tooitov  rira  ■davarov  ad^uruTov 
vTiokii'ivwv  y.ai  aTfXtvriiTor,  to  live  ahvays  dying,  and  tv undergo 

as  it  were   an   immortal   and   interminable   death He 

sometimes  uses  aioniog  in  a  temporal  sense ;  and  once  at 
least  c(iu3rtoc  xoXaaia  for  the  injury  which  an  ofiended 
neighbor  wall  pursue  us  with,  if  we  incur  his  hatred.  Frag- 
menta,  Tom.  ii.,  p.  667." 

t  2  Thess.  1 :  9.    of.t^oov  aiMviov. 

X  Jude  7.    TTvQos  aivjvloii. 


126  universalist's  assistant. 

phraseology,  which  distinguishes  the  controverted 
texts  in  the  New  Testament.  With  many  of  these 
passages,  it  has  no  coincidence ;  so  that  it  would 
not  be  suggested  by  their  language.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  have  seen,  in  a  former  period,  that  the 
larger  part  of  the  expressions  in  question  were  then 
habitually  applied  by  the  Jews,  to  the  judgments 
and  afflictions  of  this  world.     What  we  have  said 

of  Philo,   may   be   repeated   of    Josephus 

Aidios  is  the  word  which  he  commonly  uses  for 
eternal.  Aimiios  frequently  occurs ;  and  he  gen- 
erally applies  it  to  the  affairs  of  the  present  life. 
Thus,  he  speaks  of  the  everlasting'^  name  which 
the  patriarchs  left  behind  them ,  of  the  everlasting 
glory  of  the  Jewish  nation  and  heroes  ;  of  the  eve'*"' 
lasting  reputation  of  Herod;  of  the  everlasting 
memorial  which  he  erected  ;  of  the  everlasting  wor- 
ship in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem ;  of  the  everlasting 
imprisonment  to  which  John,  the  tyrant,  was  con- 
demned by  the  Romans,  etc."t 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  Christ  and  his  apostles 
have  Twt  used  the  current  phraseology  of  their  time, 
in  reference  to  the  duration  of  punishment,  if  we 
are  to  regard  the  writings  of  their  cotemporaries  as 
any  evidence  in  the  case.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
have  adopted  terms  to  express  its  duration,  which 
their  cotemporaries,  in  common  with  the  Old  Tes- 
tament   Scriptures,   commonly   applied   to   earthly 

^  utwrioq.  t  Universalist  Expositor,  Vol.  3,  p.  440. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL  WORDS.  127 

glory,  the  punishment  which  men  inflict  upon  each 
other,  and  things  of  a  temporal  character.  What 
is  the  natural  and  obvious  inference  from  these 
facts,  if  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  evidence  in  the 
case,  anyway  ?  Is  it  not  plainly,  that  Christ  and 
his  apostles  could  not  have  entertained  the  com- 
monly received  views  upon  this  subject?  If  they 
had,  is  it  sapposable  that  they  would  have  neg- 
lected to  have  used  the  commonly  received  phrase- 
ology in  relation  to  it,  and  adopted  that  which,  as 
commonly  used  by  their  cotemporaries  and  their 
Scriptures,  was  calculated  to  convey  a  very  different 
idea,  as  they  have  ?  No  one  can  question  this ;  for 
it  would  be  to  impeach  their  ingenuousness,  if  not 
their  honesty. 

"  3.  In  the  Bible,  the  word  aioxios  is  applied  to  the  future 
happiness  of  the  righteous,  and  the  future  misery  of  the 
wicked  in  the  same  connexion."* 

There  is  but  one  example  of  this,  in  the  whole 
Bible,  and  that  is  the  following — *'  These  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  righte- 
ous into  life  eternaV^  And  in  this  case,  the  objec- 
tor assumes  for  an  undisputed  truth,  what  certainly 
needs  to  be  proved  ;  viz.,  that  this  text  is  used  with 
an  exclusive  reference  to  the  condition  of  men  in 
the  future  world.  This  is  denied,  and  the  proof 
demanded.  It  is  denied  that  it  is  intended  to  de- 
scribe merely  and  solely  the  duration  of  the  life  of 

*  Tract  224,  p.  18.  f  Matt.  25  :  46. 


128  universalist's  assistant, 

the  righteous,  or  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  in 
the  world  of  spirits  alone.  I  believe  it  relates  just 
as  trul}'  to  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  in  this 
world,  as  in  the  next,  and  to  those  in  the  world  to 
come,  as  to  those  in  this  prese?it  world.  I  believe 
the  design  of  this  text  is,  to  describe  the  general 
principles  by  which  the  Divine  government  is  regu- 
lated, in  its  dealings  with  mankind ;  and  that  what 
is  meant  to  be  expressed  by  it  is,  that  it  is  an 
immutable  law  of  God's  government,  that  there  is 
an  inseparable  connexion  between  goodness  and 
happiness,  and  wickedness  and  misery.  If  this  be 
a  law  of  the  moral  government  of  God,  it  must 
prevail  wherever  this  government  is  established.  If 
it  is  said,  this  text  does  not  unequivocally  say  this; 
I  reply,  neither  does  this  text  or  its  context  un-^^quiv- 
ocally  affirm  the  contrary,  nor  indeed,  to  our  mind 
at  least,  imply  anything  of  this  kind.  In  defence 
of  the  view  just  expressed,  it  may  be  remarked  ; 

1.  That  the  word  life,  as  applied  to  the  righte- 
ous in  the  New  Testament,  and  in  this  text  among 
the  rest,  cannot  mean  mere  existence,  because  the 
bad  as  well  as  the  good  possess  this  in  the  future, 
as  well  as  the  present  world ;  for  there  is  to  be  a 
resurrection:'^-  both  of  the  just  and  the  unjust.t     It 

*  (rru(Tra0n'  /iisXXfiv  'I'aendai  vfXQoir,  will  be  a  future  life  of 
the  dead.  Dr.  Campbell's  Note  on  Matt.  22  :  23.  Also, 
Frel.  Diss.  D.  6.,  p.  2,  ^  19.  f  Acts  24  :  15. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGIN-AL    WORDS.  129 

must  refer  to  the  moral  condition  of  the  individual ; 
to  the  state  of  his  mind  and  heart,  as  a  source  of 
happiness  or  enjoyment.  But  this  peculiar  some- 
thing which  the  righteous  possess,  is  not  possessed  by 
the  bad,  as  we  read — "  He  that  belie veth  on  the  Son 
hath  everlasting  life  ;  and  he  that  believeth  not  the 
Son  shall  not  see  life  ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him."=^  Thus  it  is  seen,  that  the  term  aibnios 
is  used  to  describe  this  life,  this  state  of  the  mind 
and  heart  in  a  good  man.  Does  it,  or  can  it,  in 
such  a  connexion,  mean  an  endless  duration  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question  must  depend  upon 
the  answer  to  another  question  ;  viz..  On  what  does 
the  perpetuity  of  this  state  of  the  mind  and  heart, 
or  the  happiness  flowing  therefrom,  depend  ?  Does 
it  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the  life,  or  upon  cer- 
tain contingent  circumstances  ?  I  think  all  persons 
who  will  reflect  upon  the  subject  a  few  moments, 
must  see,  that  its  perpetuity  depends  entirely  upon 
one  circumstance  ;  viz.,  whether  the  individual  con- 
tinues without  end,  to  sustain  the  character  which 
is  the  cause  of  this  life  or  enjoyment.  To  make 
my  idea  more  plain,  I  will  suppose  a  case. 

Here  is  a  man  who  is  intemperate,  profane, 
ungodly.  In  the  providence  of  God,  he  is  awak- 
ened to  a  becoming  sense  of  his  guilty  and  lost 
condition.  He  becomes  a  penitent,  reforms  of  his 
vicious  practices,   and  enters  upon  a  life  of  piety 

*  John  3:  36. 


130  universalist's  assistant. 

and  virtue.  He  becomes  a  true  believer ;  an  entire 
change  is  effected  in  his  character ;  and  the  whole 
current  of  his  thoughts  and  feelings  takes  a  new 
direction,  and  he  lives  with  new  aims  and  purposes. 
He  becomes  "  a  new  creature  ;"  "  old  things  have 
passed  away,"  and  "  all  things  become  new.'"^ 
In  consequence,  he  enters  into  everlasting  life  ;  for 
"  he  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
life  ;'''  he  "  is  passed  from  death  unto  life."t  Such 
is  his  state  and  condition  when  he  becomes  a 
believer,  no  matter  whether  that  be  early  or  late,  or 
where  he  is.  Now  how  long  will  he  remain  in  this 
state?  How  long  will  this  life  last,  in  his  soul? 
Without  end  ?  Nay,  we  cannot  affirm  this  uncon- 
ditionally. It  will  be  so  IF  he  continues  to  sustain 
the  character  which  gives  birth  to  it  in  his  soul, 
without  end.  Hence  the  true  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion is — He  will  remain  in  this  state  and  condition, 
just  so  long  as  he  continues  to  maintain  this  char- 
acter, and  no  longer.  If,  as  has  too  often  been  the 
case,  he  falls  and  again  becomes  a  profane,  intem- 
perate, and  ungodly  man,  where  is  this  life  then  ? 
Does  it  still  exist  in  his  soul  ?  Does  he  still  possess 
that  peace  of  soul  which  passeth  all  understanding  ? 
Most  certainly  not.  His  life,  as  a  believer,  has 
come  to  an  end,  and  he  is  again  in  that  state  of 
mind  and  heart,  which  is  denominated,  in  the  Sciip- 
tures,  "  the  gall  of  bitterness,   and   the   bonds  of 

*2  Cor.  5  :   17.  t  John  5  :  24.     1  John  3  :  14. 


THE    SENDERLXG    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  131 

iniquity,"  death,  damnation,  etc. — terms  indicative 
not  only  of  an  absence  of  enjoyment,  but  a  state  of 
positive  and  continuous  suffering.^^ 

Such  being-  the  state  of  the  case,  it  is  manifest, 
that  the  duration  of  this  Ufe  depends,  not  upon  its 
nature,  but  upon  the  contingent  circumstance, 
whether  the  individual  remains  'permanently  in 
that  moral  and  religious  condition  of  mind  and 
heart,  which  gives  birth  to  it  in  his  soul.  This  is 
just  as  true  of  the  future  as  of  the  present  slate ; 
for  men  can  no  more  be  happy  in  the  future  world 
without  being  good,  than  they  can  in  the  present. 
This  being  the  case,  no  term  meaning  a  strictly 
endless  duration  could  properly  be  connected  with 
the  word  life,  when  used  in  the  sense  it  is  in  the 
text  under  consideration. 

2.  This  view  of  the  matter  may  be  further  con- 
firmed and  established  by  the  fact,  that  ei^erywhere 
in  the  Scriptures,  men  are  represented  as  being 
eligible  to  the  enjoyments  of  this  life,  at  the  time 
xohen  and  the  place  lohere  they  become  believers. 
And  as  men  may  become  believers  in  this  world, 
they  may  possess  this  life  here.  Hence  we  read — 
"  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  belie veth  on  him 
that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life  ;  and  shall  not 
come  into  condemnation  ;  but  is  passed  from  death 
unto  life."!"  The  phrase  everlasting  life,  and  the 
single  term  life,  as  used  in  this  text,  cannot  refer 

*Ezek.  18:  1.  32.  t  John  5:  24. 


132 


UNIVERSALIST  S    ASSISTANT. 


exclusively  to  another  state,  unless  men  can  become 
believers  only  in  the  future  world ;  for  men  are  to 
come  into  the  possession  of  it,  or  pass  into  it  when 
they  become  believers,  and  as  a  consequence  of 
their  believing. 

With,  these  facts  before  them,  what  intelligent 
and  reflecting  mind  can  regard  the  phrase  everlast- 
ing life  as  referring  exclusively  to  men's  condition 
in  the  world  of  spirits  only?  Surely  such  persons 
must  see,  that  it  applies  to  men's  state  and  condition 
in  this  life,  just  as  truly  as  in  the  next.  So  also 
they  must  see,  in  view  of  what  has  been  said,  that 
the  use  of  aibnios  in  connexion  with  the  term  life, 
is  no  proof  of  the  endless  continuance  of  that  life, 
in  any  individual's  soul  ;  because  the  duration  of  it 
depends  upon  the  permanency  of  the  cause^  or  the 
duration  of  his  goodness.  The  fact  of  a  man's 
being  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  life  to-day,  is  no 
evidence,  though  a  presumption  in  favor  of  such  an 
expectation,  that  he  will  be  in  its  enjoyment  to-mor- 
row ;  because  we  do  not  know  but  that  to-morrow 
he  will  abandon  his  integrity  and  virtue,  and  plunge 
into  sin,  and  so  become  involved  in  condemnation 
and  death.  In  other  words,  we  cannot  invest  that 
with  the  character  of  a  positive  certainty,  which 
from  its  very  nature  is  contingent. 

Such  being  the  state  of  the  case  in  regard  to  the 
use  of  the  term  aibnios  in  connexion  with  the  life 
of  the  righteous,  I  ask  in  the  language  of  the  ob- 
jector— "  Is   it  credible,   tliat   the    inspired   writers 


THE    KEA'DEllING    OF    ORIGINAL  WORDS.  133 

should  use  the  same  word,  in  the  same  sentence, 
and  in  reference  to  the  same  general  subject,  in 
totally  different  senses?""^  This  will  hardly  be 
pretended  ;  and  of  course  this  term,  when  applied 
to  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  affords  just  as 
little  evidence  of  its  endless  continuance,  as  it  does 
when  applied  to  the  life  of  the  righteous.  Both 
rest  precisely  upon  the  same  footing,  and  in  neither 
case,  does  this  term  afford  the  slightest  evidence  as 
to  their  duration,  whether  it  be  longer  or  shorter. 
This  is  a  contingent  matter. 

"  4.  The  term  aidnios  is  uniformly  used  in  the  Scriptures, 
to  denote  the  longest  possible  duration  of  which  the  subject 
to  which  the)^  are  applied,  is  capable."t 

That  this  statement  is  entirely  incorrect,  only  a 
few  instances  need  be  cited  from  the  Scriptures,  to 
demonstrate.  These  I  will  present  in  the  language 
of  another.  "  The  land  of  Canaan  is  often  said  to 
be  given  to  the  seed  of  Abraham  for  an  "  everlast- 
ing possession ;  yet  that  everlasting  possession 
ceased  ages  ago,  notwithstanding  both  the  subjects, 
viz.,  the  land  itself,  and  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham, were  capable  of  a  much  longer  duration  ;"  as 

*  Tract  234,  p.  18.  From  what  has  been  said,  we  infer, 
that  the  mere  use  of  the  word  aiMvioc  in  Matt.  25 :  46, 
does  not  necessarily  imply  the  positive  eternity,  either  of 
the  happiness  of  the  good,  or  the  misery  of  the  wicked, 
after  judsrment." — Chris.  Exam.,Vo\.  5,  p.  446,  No  for  Nov. 
and  Dec. ^1828. 

t  Tract  224.  p.  18. 
12 


134  U.MVEJtli>ALIt>T"s    ASSISTA^"!'. 

we  happen  to  know,  from  their  having  actually  en- 
dured to  the  present  time.  So  likewise,  when 
Jonah  remained  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  though  it 
w^as  only  for  three  days  and  three  nights,  he  says, 
"  the  earth  with  her  bars  was  about  me  forever." 
Here  the  ierm.  forever  denotes  about  seventy  hours  ; 
though  the  subjects  to  which  it  was  applied,  viz  , 
the  earth  and  Jonah,  had  a  much  longer  duration."-^ 
Other  instances  might  be  produced,  going  to  show 
the  utter  falsity  of  the  declaration  under  considera- 
tion ;  but  it  is  quite  unnecessary,  as  those  already 
presented,  demonstrate  its  incorrectness,  and  over- 
turn this  position,  designed  to  show  that  the  term 
aionios^  "  when  applied  to  things  in  a  future  world, 
to  the  rewards  of  the  righteous  and  the  punishmeni 
of  the  wicked,  must  denote  absolute  eternity. "t 

In  addition  to  all  this,  to  confirm  the  meaning  of 
"  absolute  eternity,"  attempted  to  be  fixed  upon  the 
term  aibnios  in  certain  connexions,  an  appeal  is 
sometimes  made  to  the  New  Testament  usage. 
Upon  this  issue  the  whole  might  be  safely  rested ; 
for  take  Prof.  Stuart's  enumeration  and  classifica- 
tion of  the  passages  where  this  term  is  used,  and 
usage  is  entirely  against  the  sense  of  "  absolute 
eternity."  He  says,  "  It  appears  from  the  above 
representation,    that   there    are    sixty-six    cases    in 


*  Letters  to  Dr.  Hawes,  p.  33. 
t  Tract  221,,  p.  18. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  135 

which  aidnios  is  employed  in  the  New  Testament. 
Of  these  fifty-one  are  used  in  relation  to  the  happi- 
ness of  the  righteous  ;  two,  in  relation  to  God  or  his 
glory ;  six  are  of  a  miscellaneous  nature  ;  and  seven 
relate  to  the  subject  of  future  punishment.'"^  Now, 
bearing  in  mind  the  fact,  that  it  has  been  already 
shown,!  that  the  term  cannot  mean  "  absolute 
eternity,"  when  applied  to  the  happiness  of  the 
righteous,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  subject,  which 
way  does  usage  look,  with  the  above  enumeration 
and  classification  before  us  ?  Fifty-one,  out  of  the 
sixty-six  cases,  are  at  once  referred  to  the  class 
meaning  an  indefinite  duration ;  and  then  the  seven 
relating  to  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  must  be 
placed  in  the  same  category,  leaving  only  eight  to 
bear  the  sense  of  endless,  if  the  whole  are  given  up, 
which  no  one  will  clai;a,  who  has  any  acquaintance 
with  the  subject.  This  surely  is  not  making  out 
much  of  a  case  in  favor  of  "  absolute  eternity,"  as 
the  sense  of  aibnios,  on  the  score  of  usage. 

Such  is  my  reply  to  the  arguments  by  which  the 
sense  of  "  absolute  eternity"  is  attempted  to  be  fixed 
upon  the  terms  aibn  and  aid?iios — for  what  is  true 
of  one  is  true  also  of  the  other.!  Of  the  sufficiency 
of  the  reply  that  has  been  given,  the  reader  must 

*Exegetical  Essays,  p.  46.        f  See  pp.  123—127. 

:j:  The  only  exception  to  this  remark  is,  that  aicbv  is  used 
much  more  frequently  (112  times,  if  I  have  counted  cor- 
rectly) in  the  New  Testament,  than  UMonof. 


136  universalist's  assistant. 

judge.     It  is  laid  before  him  as  an  impartial  juror, 
to  determine  the  matter  in  the  fear  of  God. 


SECTION    IV. ADDITIONAL    CONSIDERATIONS    TO     SHOW 

THE     TERMS     AI5n     AND     AIONIOS     DO     NOT     MEAN 
"  ABSOLUTE    ETERNITY.' 

In  the  preceding  sections  many  facts  have  been 
stated  to  m.eet  the  arguments  therein  noticed,  de- 
signed to  fix  upon  these  terms  the  sense  of  endless 
duratioii.  But  there  are  many  more  facts  and  con- 
siderations bearing  upon  the  same  point,  which  could 
not  properly  be  arranged  under  any  of  the  divisions 
of  those  sections.  These  I  now  propose  to  gather 
up  and  present  to  the  reader. 

1.   Statements  of  Lexicons. 
Modern  lexicons  need  not  be  appealed  to,  as  they 
nil  agree  in  assigning  endless  or  eternity  as  one  of 
the  meanings  of  these  terms.     Mr.  Goodwin"^'  says, 

*  T  wish  to  say,  in  this  place,  that  I  am  greatly  indebted 
to  the  labors  of  this  most  laborious  student  and  thorough 
scholar  for  very  many  of  the  facts  and  suggestions  contained 
in  this  chapter ;  and  any  one  who  may  wish  to  see  the  ex- 
hibition of  facts  upon  which  the  statements  quoted  from  him, 
are  founded,  is  referred  to  a  series  of  articles  published  in 
the  Christian  Examiner,  commencing  in  the  No.  for  Nov. 
and  Dec,  1828,  and  ending  in  the  No.  for  May,  1833.  In 
relation  to  these  articles,  I  think  all  who  will  carefully  study 
them,  will  say  with  the  editors  of  that  paper: — ''We  ac- 
knowledge ourselves  indebted  to  them  for  much  information, 
and  are  convinced  that  their  author  has  thrown  a  light  upon 
the  words  in  question,  which  will  hereafter  be  gratefull}-  ac- 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL   WORDS.  137 

"  Hesychius,  a  lexicographer  of  either  the  fourth  or 
sixth  century,  is  the  oldest  to  which  I  have  had  ac- 
cess. His  definition  of  aibn  is  very  short,  and 
makes  no  allusion  whatever  to  any  sense  of  eternity 
in  this  word."  "  I  next  appeal  to  Pharoninus,  a 
lexicographer  of  the  sixteenth  century.  .  .  .  His 
authority,  I  trust,  will  be  admitted  as  good,  for  it  is 
very  frequently  quoted  by  the  later  writers,  as  that 
in  which  they  place  confidence.  He  gives  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  meanings  of  aibn  at  great  length.  I 
make  the  following  extract.  ''Aibn  is  life,  femi- 
ninely. Homer,  "  thyself  shall  be  dispelled  of  dear 
existeiice ;  from  ab,^  to  breathe ;  and  the  spirit  is 
breath.   .   .  .  and  we,  also,  call  the  inspiring  the 

living aibn  is,  also,  the  eternal  and  endless, 

as  it  seems  to  the  theologian."!  Here,  I  strongly 
suspect,  is  the  true  secret  brought  to  light,  of  the 
origin  of  the  sense  of  eternity  in  aibn.  The  theolo- 
gian first  thought  he  perceived  it,  or  else  he  placed 
it  there.  And  the  theologian  will  probably  retain 
it  there  longer  than  any  one  else.     Hence  it  is,  that 

knowledged  bv  those  who  shall  seek  to  discover  their  mean- 
ing, and  which  cannot  excusably  be  disregarded  by  any  bibli- 
cal student."'  An  important  service  would  be  rendered  the 
Unirersalist  ministry,  if  these  articles  should  be  issued  in  a 
book,  edited  by  some  competent  person.  Its  value  might  be 
increased  by  extending  the  inquiry  still  farther. 

*'  «('). 

f  "ylicjv,   (    Lott^  d^r.Xvy.'oc.    OurjOoc,  jivr'oq  8i  (fl^.tjg  al<Svog 

ceuscjSs'ig.   TIa(jix  to  aeiv  nvitiv.    xul  (xr,ua^  rh  nvsvua 

xa'i.  Hinvovr  ds  tuv  t^nTa  (peeotv  .  .  .  ai'oDV.  y.al  6  a'lSiog  xat  oTe- 
Jltvrr^Tos,  IOC  rut  &sok6yoj  ^oyiT.'' 

'    12'^  ' 


138  universalist's  assistant. 

those  lexicographers  who  assign  eternity  as  one  of 
the  meanings  of  aion,  uniformly  appeal  for  proofs  to 
either  theological,  Hebrew,  or  Rabbinical  Greek,  or 
some  species  of  Greek  subsequent  to  the  age  of  the 
Seventy,  if  not  subsequent  to  the  age  of  the  Apostles, 
so  far  as  I  can  ascertain.  I  do  not  know  of  an  in- 
stance, in  which  any  lexicographer  has  produced 
the  usage  of  ancient  classical  Greek,  in  evidence 
that  aion  means  eternity.  I  do  not  believe  he  could 
find  a  case  to  this  purpose  there. '"^ 

2.  Classical  usage. 
Mr.  Goodwin  says,  in  regard  to  the  sense  of 
eternity  in  aion,  "  Ancient  classical  Greek  rejects  it 
altogether."!  "  In  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  aion  oc- 
curs thirteen  times  onl}-  as  a  noun."1:  "  I  notice  in 
Hesiod  only  two  instances  of  aion.''^  "  This  is 
certain ; — mean  what  it  may,  aion  in  Homer  and 
Hesiod  never  means  eternity.'"^  It  may  here  be 
remarked,  that  these  are  two  of  the  oldest  Greek 
writings  in  existence.  Their  authors  lived  near  a 
thousand  years  before  the  commencement  of  our 
era.  "  In  ^'Eschylus  I  notice  nineteen  instances  of 
aion.""^  "  I  believe  no  one  will  suspect  that 
jEschylus  ever  imagined  a  sense  of  eternity  to  be- 
long to  aion.^'W  He  lived  and  wrote  about  500 
years  before  Christ.     "  In  Pindar's  Odes,  not   in- 

*  Christ.  Exam.  No.  for  March,  1831,  pp.  46—48. 

t  Do.,  p.  48.      t  Do-'  P-  53.      §  Do.,  p.  56.      |1  Do.  p.  59. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  139 

eluding  the  Fragments,  I  notice  thirteen  instances 
of  aibn:'^  He  lived  and  wrote  about  495  B.  C. 
"  In  Sophocles  I  notice  nine  instances  of  aion.'"^ 
"•Among  the  examined  works  of  Aristotle,  aion  oc- 
curs five  times  in  the  treatise  de  Mundo,  twice  in 
the  fourteen  books  of  Metaphysics,  and  five  times  in 
the  treatise  de  Casio.''  These  twelve  are  the  only 
instances  in  the  examined  works. "I  "  It  will  be 
observed,  that  in  every  instance,  there  is  a  sense  of 
secrecy  of  the  nature  and  indejiniteness  of  the  dura- 
tion of  the  existence  expressed  by  this  word,  but  in 
no  case  a  sense  of  positive  eternity.''^  "  He  con- 
siders aion  to  signify,  in  strict  propriety,  a  thing  com- 
pleted, so  as  to  be  permanent,  or  enduring  as  long  as 
its  nature  admits.  He  means  to  say,  that  a  thing 
completed  according  to  its  nature,  is  called  aion  an 
existence,  on  account  of  its  existing  permanently  or 
enduringly ;  the  period  of  its  permanency,  or  endur- 
ing, being  conformed  to  its  nature. "II  "  As  certainly 
as  human  life  is  not  eternal,  so  certainly  aion 
did  not  contain  the  meaning  of  eternity."^  "  In 
Euripides,  I  notice  thirty-two  instances  of  aion, 
either  separate  or  in  composition."^  "^  I  have  been 
thus  particular  in  these  statements,  that  the  reader 
may  see  the  extent  to  which  the  examination  has 
been   carried,    and   the    grounds   upon   which   the 

*  Christ.  Exam..  No.  fov  March,  183L  p.  59.    f  Do.,  p.  61. 
±Do.,  No.  for  Mav,  1831,  p.  167.      «^  Do.,  p.  170. 
11  Do.,  p.  174.        '^  Do.,  p.  177.         *  *  Do.,  p.  179. 


140  universalist's  assistant. 

following  conclusion  is  based.  "  The  instances  pro- 
duced show  plainly,  that  aion,  in  these  writers,  never 
express  positive  eternity  ;  in  some  few  cases  it  may 
signify  a  term  of  duration;  but  more  commonly,  it 
expresses  either  simply  existence,  or  the  person 
existing ;  and  in  many  cases,  the  vital  principle,  or 
life,  or  the  living  spirit  itself."^ 

This  author  also  adds  :  "  I  have  said  nothing  con- 
cerning the  adjective  aibnios,  for  the  single  reason, 
that  it  does  not  occur  in  any  instance  in  any  of  the 
Greek  works  within  the  present  examination.  Did 
I  not  know  that  it  is  to  be  found  in  Plato,  I  should 
be  almost  ready  to  believe  that  it  did  not  exist  in 
ancient  G-reek  at  all.  I  have  had  no  opportunity  to 
consult  the  works  of  Plato  to  any  extent,  and  can 
therefore  say  nothing  of  the  frequency  or  infrequency, 
with  which  this  adjective  occurs  therein.  But  I 
will  venture  the  present  opinion,  that  aibnios  was 
coined  by  the  early  translators  of  the  Pentateuch,  as 
a  proper  representative  of  the  adjective  olam\,  and 
is  entirely  of  Hebrew-Greek  origin.  ...  In  the 
entire  absence  of  aibnios  from  ancient  Greek,  within 
the  present  examination,  it  will  not  be  thought  un- 
justifiable to  entertain  the  above  opinion  as  to  its 
origin,  until  further  examination  shall  prove  the 
opposite  ',%  and  it  must  be  presumed,  that  it  follows 

*  Christ.  Exam.,  No.  for  May,  1831,  p.  184.      f  t:1]ir> 

t 

X  A  further  examination  of  Plato  by  this  author  only  con- 
firmed this  conclusion,  as  mav  be  seen  in  the  work  so  often 
named,  Nos.  for  March  and  May,  1832.  pp.  99—105. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  141 

the  general  track  of  aibn^  in  its  meanings  and 
shades  of  meanings,  with  the  exception  of  those 
meanings  of  a  noun,  which  cannot  be  imparted  to 
an  adjective,  and  those  wliich  it  is  known  this  noun 
never  did  impart  to  this  adjective.'"^  Thus  much  in 
regard  to  classical  usage,  and  the  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  it. 

3.    Scripture  usage. 

The  scriptures  are  written  in  two  different  lan- 
guages, the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek ;  but  we  have 
the  whole  Bible  in  Greek ;  the  Old  Testament  being 
a  translation  made,  about  286  3'ears  before  Christ,! 
by  a  number  of  learned  men  in  Alexandria  in 
Egypt.t  This  is  called  the  Septuagint  version.  I 
shall  confine  the  examples  to  the  Greek,  because 
it  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  that  the  Greek  words  aibn 
and  aibnios  correspond  entirely  to  the  Hebrew  olam, 
in  sense,  which  "  expression  is  never  used  in  the 
Old  Testament  to  denote  an  absolute  eternity. "§ 

In  order  that  the  matter  may  be  presented  to  the 
mere  English  reader  in  the  more  striking  light,  and 

*  Christ.  Exam.,  No.  for  Blay,  1831,  pp.  186—7. 

t  This  is  probably  the  date  only  of  the  translation  of  the 
Pentateuch,  while  the  translation  of  the  remaining  portion 
of  the  Old  Testament  was  made  by  ditferent  individuals,  at 
different  and  later  times.  Jahn's  Introduction  to  the  0.  T., 
p.  52,  Andover,  1827. 

:j:  Home's  Intro.,  Vol.  2.,  p.  163.,  et  seq. 

\  Noyes'  Translation  of  the  Heb.  Prophets,  Note  on 
Micah  5  :  2. 


142  untversalist's  assistant. 

enable  him  the  more  clearly  to  perceive  the  absurdity 
of  maintaining  that  these  terms  properly  denote 
"absolute  eternity,"  I  will  translate  them  by  the 
words  ETERNITY  and  eternal.  When  a  translation 
of  aion  and  aibnios,  they  will  be  put  in  small 
capitals ;  and  to  prevent,  as  much  as  possible,  the 
introduction  of  Greek  words  into  the  text,  the  trans- 
lation only  will  be  given,  and  when  there  is  a 
variation  in  the  phraseology,  the  Greek  will  be  given 
in  the  margin. 

1.  In  the  following  instances  these  terms  are 
used  in  reference  to  things  which  have  already 
come  to  an  end.  "  I  Avill  give  unto  thee,  and  thy 
seed  after  thee,  the  land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger, 
all  the  land  of  Canaan,^r  an  eternal  possession. '^'^ 
"  And  thou  shait  anoint  them  as  thou  didst  their 
father,  that  they  may  minister  unto  me  in  the 
priest's  office ;  for  their  anointing  shall  surely  be  a 
priesthood  through  the  eternity."!  "Then  his 
master  shall  bring  him  to  the  door,  or  unto  the 
door-posts,  and  his  master  shall  bore  his  ear  through 
with  an  awl,  and  he  shall  serve  him  through  the 
eternity."  X 

"  The  waters  compassed  me  about — even  to  the  soul  ; 
The  weeds  were  wrapped  about  my  head. 
I  went  down  to  the  bottoms  of  the  mountains ; 
The  earth  with  her  bars  was  about  me  eternally."  ^ 

*  Gen.  17 :  8 ;  sig  xarua/saiv  aioiviov.   Also,  Gen.  13  :  15. 
t  Exod.  40  :  15.  €/'?  Tov  aimvct,  which  is  explained  by  ng 
Tag  yti'fac  ccr'Toiv. 

i  Exod.  21  :  ().     fi'c  Toy  ui\->vu. 
^  Jonah  3  :  G.  uuonoi. 


THE    UEJ\'UER1NG    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  143 

A  multitude  of  other  texts  might  be  added  to  these, 
equally  striking,  to  show  these  terms  are  used  with 
reference  to  things  which  have  come  to  an  end ;  but 
these  must  suffice. 

2.  The  term  aion  is  repeated  in  the  following 
instances.  "  To  Avhom  be  the  glory  during  the 
ETERNITIES  BDeii  to  the  ETERNITIES.*"^  "  Unto  him 
be  glory  in  the  church  by  Jesus  Christ,  through 
all  the  ages,  the  eternity  and  the  eternitiE'?."  t 
"  Now  unto  God  and  our  Father  be  glory  through 
the  eternities  even  to  the  eternities. "$ 

3.  In  addition  to  the  examples  above,  the  term 
is  used  in  the  plural  number  in  the  following 
instances.  "  Now  all  these  things  happened  unto 
them  for  ensamples,  and  they  are  written  for  our 
admonition  upon  whom  the  end.s  of  the  eternities 
are  come.''''^     "  That  in  the  eteRxNities  comings  he 

*  In  this  and  the  following  examples  I  give  the  Greek  as 
near  a  verbal  rendering  into  English  as  is  possible,  accept- 
ing the  definition  of  eternity  as  the  legitimate  meaning  of 
oibn  ;  and  this  is  done  for  the  purpose  of  showing  to  the 
mere  English  reader  something  of  the  aspect  of  things,  as 
presented  to  the  mind  of  a  scholar.  The  real  meaning,  I 
take  to  be  this,  taking  the  first  text  as  an  example.  ''  To 
whom  be  the  glory  dt  rot'?  uuovuc  twv  aicoroyr,  through  ail 
the  ages,  or  more  literall)', />-ow  age  to  age.  Gal.  1 :  5,  And 
so  of  the  rest. 

f  sig  TCteOag  rlxc  ysrsa?  tov  alo>iog  twv  aic'ortor,  through  all 
geiierntions  from  age  to  age. 

X  Phil.  4  :  20.  "Greek  the  same  as  in  Gal.  1:5.  See  also 
1  Tim.  1:  17.  Heb.  1:  8.  Eph.  3  :  21.  2  Tim.  4:  18. 
Heb.  13  :  21.  1  Peter  4:11.  Rev.  1 :  6  ;  4  :  9  ;  5  :  13,  14  ; 
7:  21;    14:  11:  15:  7;   20.:  10. 

<5>  1  Cor.  10  :  11.  z'u  x>\?^r,  lou  uiwiwi  xu(i(,'iT»,0£r,  the  Cnd 
of  the  ages  are  coiw. 


144  UNlVElv6ALlST  S    ASSISTANT. 

might  show  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace."* 
•'  The  mystery  which  hath  been  ]udifro??i  the  eter- 
nities and  fro77i  the  generations. ^'''\ 

4.  Beside  the  example  above,  the  end  of  the 
aibn  is  spoken  of  as  follows  ; — "  But  now  once  in 
the  end  of  the  eterinities,  hath  he  appeared  to  put 
away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself. "+  "  The  har- 
vest is  the  end  of  the  eternity."^  "  So  shall  it  be 
in  the  end  of  this  eternity. "tl  "  Tell  us,  when 
shall  these  things  be  ?  and  what  the  sign  of  thy 
coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  eternity  ?  "H 

5.  In  the  following  texts,  times  are  spoken  of  beyond 
the  aidn.  "  The  Lord  shall  reign  to  the  eternity, 
and  during  the  eternity,  and  longer."  "^"^  "  And 
they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of 
the  firmament ;  and  they  that  turn  many  to  right- 
eousness, as  the  stars  through  the  eternities,  and 

*  Eph.  2  :  7.  iv  Toig  uioioi  ruig  insQ/ouivotg,  in  the  ages 
coming. 

f  Col.  1  :  26.  ofTTo  Tfvr  auorvw  y.ul  anh  imv  y^vfon',  from  the 
ages  and  the  generafiunx. 

X  Heb.  9:  2(3.  ijil  ovvri).iia  tmv  alwvcar,  in  the  conclusion 
of  the  ages. 

^  Matt,  13:  39.  ovvTili'iarov  aiwvog  iorir,  is  the  conchi- 
sion  of  the  age. 

II  Matt.  13  :  40.  *»'  rr;  airTB?.siit  Tov  aiMvog  toj'toh,  in  t//e 
conclusion  of  this  age. 

^  Matt.  24  :  4.  rfjc  avvrfkflag  tou  aioirog,  conclusion  of  the 
age.  See  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Prel.  Diss.  D.  12  :  Pt. 
1,^23.  ^ 

**  Exod.  15:  18.  xi'Qioi  (iuoiliviav  rov  auovit,  xal  in'' 
aimva,  y.ixl  'in.  The  Lord  shall  reign  from  age  to  age,  and 
beyond  all  the  cgcs,i.  e.,  indefinitely  in  duration. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.         145 

longer. ^^^  "  And  we  will  walk  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah  our  God  through  the  eternity  and  be- 
yond."! 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  examples  presented  by  the 
Scriptures,  of  the  usage  of  the  term  aion.  We 
have  seen  that  it  is  used  to  represent  durations 
which  have  come  to  an  end ;  that  it  is  frequently 
repeated  ;  that  it  is  often  used  in  the  plural  number ; 
that  the  end  of  the  periods  it  describes  are  often 
mentioned  ;  and  finally,  that  times  after  that  de- 
scribed by  this  term  are  mentioned.  With  all  this 
before  us,  who  can  believe,  that  a  word  bearing 
such  a  usage,  could  be  regarded,  by  the  sacred 
A\Titers,  as  expressing  "  absolute  eternity,''^  as  its 
primitive  and  necessary  meaning?  It  appears  to 
me,  no  candid  man  can ;  and  the  farther  and  more 
thorough  the  investigation  is  pursued,  the  more 
entirely  must  every  such  mind  be  satisfied,  that  such 
cannot  be  its  meaning.  If  its  strict  and  proper 
meaning  was  "  absolute  eternity,"  in  the  view  of 
these  writers,  how  could  they  have  ever  used  it  in 
the  plural  number  ?     What  sense  is  there  in  giving 


*  Daniel  12  :  3.  dq  Tovg  alonac,  xai  trt,  through  the  ages 
and  beyond  them  all. 

t  Micah  4:5.  £tf  t6v  ai<5va,  xal  tJiixBiva,  through  the  age 
and  beyond  it. 

These  three  examples  from  the  Septuagint,  show  most 
conclusively,  that  aiiLv^  in  the  judgment  of  these  transla- 
tors, did  not  express  an  absolute  eternity ;  else  why  add 
other  words  to  express  a  further  continuance  of  the  duration 
than  this  word  itself  expresses  ? 

13 


146  universalist's  assistant. 

a  plural,  to  a  word,  which  of  itself,  means  a  single 
period  of  endless  duration  ?  And  then,  if  the  trans- 
lators of  the  Old  Testament  had  have  regarded  this 
term  as,  in  any  case,  bearing  the  sense  of  endless 
duration,  why  have  they,  as  in  the  examples 
quoted,  not  only  used  the  term  in  the  plural  num- 
ber, and  then  repeated  it,  but,  as  if  not  satisfied 
with  the  duration  they  had  expressed,  they  add 
terms  to  express  the  continuance  of  time  indefinitely, 
beyond  that  described  by  this  term  ?  These  surely 
are  singular  phenomena  to  be  exhibited  by  a  word 
of  the  character  the  objector  would  have  us  believe 
it  sustains.  So  far  as  Scripture  usage  is  concerned, 
it  seems  to  me,  that  we  must  come  to  the  same  con- 
clusion we  did,  in  regard  to  its  classical  usage ;  that 
it  does  not  express  "  absolute  eternity." 

4.  Usage  among  the  Christian  Fathers. 
It  is  admitted,  on  all  hands,  that  there  were  those 
among  the  early  Christian  Fathers,  who  were  be- 
lievers in  universal  salvation.  The  celebrated  Origen 
is  among  the  most  distinguished  of  these  men,  and 
not  only  a  noted  believer,  but  defender  of  this  doc 
trine.  And  yet  he,  with  others  who  believed  in 
the  salvation  of  all  men,  are  said,  by  those  who 
have  examined  their  existing  works,  to  have  called 
future  punishment  everlasting,  and  to  describe  it 
as  ETERNAL  fire  or  torment.^     "  In  all  his  works. 

*  Ancient  Hist,  of  Universalism,  p.  67. 


THE    RENDERING   OF   ORIGINAL   WORDS.         147 

Origen  freely  uses  the  expressions  everlasting 
jire^  EVERLASTING  punishment,  etc.,  without  any 
explanation,  such  as  our  modern  prepossessions 
would  render  necessary,  to  prevent  misunderstand- 
ing.'"^ Such  are  the  facts.  Now  how  are  we  to 
explain  them  so  as  not  to  conflict  with  the  position, 
that  the  original  and  proper  meaning  of  aibnios  is 
absolute  eternity  ?  If  these  Universalists,  who  were 
themselves  native  Greeks,  had  have  regarded  this 
.term  as  expressing  such  an  idea,  they  could  not 
chave  used  it  in  describing  a  punishment  in  which 
they  believed;  because  they  openly  and  undisguis- 
edly,  not  only  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  eternity  of 
future  punishment,  but  maintained  that  of  universal 
restoration.! 

Now  this  is  a  very  important  circumstance ;  for 

*  Ancient  Hist,  of  Universalism,  p.  114. 

f  It  might  be  added^  as  a  fact  of  some  interest,  that  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  is  not  recognized  as  an 
article  of  belief  in  the  church,  in  the  earliest  symbol  of 
their  faith  extant — I  mean  the  document  called  the  ''  Apos- 
tles' Creed."  I  here  give  a  copy  of  it  in  English.  "I 
believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty ;  and  in  Jesus  Christ, 
his  only  begotten  Son.  our  Lord,  who  was  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  crucified  under  Pontius 
Pilate,  buried,  rose  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  as- 
cended to  the  heavens,  and  sits  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father ;  whence  he  will  come,  to  judge  the  living  and 
the  dead ;  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  holy  church ;  the 
remission  of  sins  ;  and  the  resurrection  of  the  body."  This 
is  the  common  form  of  it,  as  it  existed  in  the  fourth  century, 
in  which  it  differs  some,  from  more  ancient  copies.  Mur- 
dock's  Mosheim's  Eccl.  History,  Vol.  1,  p.  96;  New  Haven, 
1832. 


148  universalist's  assistant. 

it  not  only  shows,  that  they  did  not  consider  the 
term  as  expressing  absolute  eternity — and  they 
were,  certainly,  as  competent  judges  of  its  proper 
signification,  being  native  Greeks,  as  we  are  at  the 
present  day — ^but  it  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the 
New  Testament  usage  of  the  term.  We  know 
they  were  Universalists,  and,  of  course,  that  they 
did  not  understand  the  term  as  expressing  "  abso- 
lute eternity."  And  using  the  term  precisely  as  it 
is  used  in  the  New  Testament,  which  they  regarded 
as  an  authoritative  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  we 
know,  also,  that  they  must  have  considered  its 
application  to  punishment  as  no  evidence  of  its 
endless  duration.  This  is  further  manifest,  from 
the  fact,  that  when  the  doctrine  of  universal  salva- 
tion first  became  a  matter  of  controversy,  the  Greek 
writers,  who  believed  in  endless  misery,  never  used 
the  circumstance  of  aibnios  being  applied  to  punish- 
ment, in  the  Scriptures,  as  an  argument  against  the 
doctrine  of  the  Universalists.^  Would  they  not 
have  done  it,  had  they  have  regarded  the  matter  in 
the  light  in  which  it  now  is  by  the  modern  opposers 
of  this  doctrine  ?  The  application  of  this  term  to 
punishment  in  the  Scriptures,  is  one  of  the  main 
pillars  by  which  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  is 
to  be  supported,  in  the  judgment  of  its  advocates,  at 
the  present  day.  Had  the  Greek  Christians  have 
regarded  the  term  in  the  same  light,  they  certainly 

*  Universalism  Illustrated  and  Defended,  p.  210. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  149 

would  not  have  failed  to  have  urged  it  as  an  argu- 
ment against  the  Universalists.^  This  is  a  strong 
point.  It  shows  that  they  did  not  consider  it  as 
meaning  absolute  eternity  as  used  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  and  their  judgment,  in  this  matter,  is  worthy 
of  great  confidence,  they  being  native  Greeks,  and  a 
native  is  always  more  competent  authority,  as  to  the 
force  and  meaning  of  words  in  their  own  language, 
than  any  foreigner  possibly  can  be,  especially  if  he 
belongs  to  a  distant  age,  and  a  country  where  the 
habits  of  thought  and  modes  of  expression  are  widely 
different. 

Such  are  some  of  my  reasons  for  thinking  the 
original  and  proper  meaning  of  the  terms  aibri  and 
aidnios  is  not  "  absolute  eternity.''^  I  will  recapitu- 
late them.  It  has  been  shown,  that  the  several  posi- 
tions assumed,  to  sustain  this  meaning,  are  not  war- 
ranted by  the  facts  in  the  case ;  that  the  oldest  lexi- 
cons do  not  give  eternal  as  one  of  the  meanings  of 
aibn ;  that  classical  usage  is  against  such  an  inter- 
pretation ;  that  the  Jewish  usage  before,  at  the  time, 
and  immediately  subsequent  to  the  advent  of  the 

*  The  first  instance  on  record  of  the  circumstance  of  the 
term  uldjvtog  being  applied  to  punishment,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, being  urged  as  an  argument  against  Universalism, 
occurred  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century.  And  this  by 
Augustine,  a  Latin  writer,  and  the  father  of  what  is  now 
called  the  Calvinistic  system  of  theology.  He  "  was  very 
imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  Greek  language."  Ancient 
Hist.  Univ.,  p.  252,  Boston,  1829. 

13* 


150  universalist's  assistant. 

Saviour,  is  against  such  a  construction;^  that 
Scripture  usage  is  against  it ;  and  that  the  usage  of 
it  by  the  early  Christian  Fathers,  themselves  Greeks, 
is  against  it.  It  appears,  also,  that  while  the  Phari- 
sees and  Essenes  of  the  Saviour's  time,  believed  the 
doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  and  had  certain 
terms  and  phrases  by  which  they  were  accustomed 
to  express  this  doctrine,  Christ  and  his  apostles  have 
in  no  case  adopted  their  phraseology,  in  speaking 
of  the  punishment  of  the  wicked. 

And  now  I  submit  it  to  any  candid  and  fair  mind, 
not  utterly  blinded  by  prejudice  and  preconceived 
opinions,  if  he  can  believe,  with  this  array  of  facts 
before  him,  that  these  words,  in  their  original  and 
proper  signification,  mean  "  absolute  eternity  ? " 
And  this  is  the  very  point  to  be  established,  before 
the  simple  application  of  these  terms  to  punishment 
can  have  any  force  as  an  argument  in  favor  of 
its  "  absolute  eternity"  It  seems  to  me  that  a 
stronger  case  could  not  be  made  out  nagatively, 
than  the  facts  presented  make  out  against  this  view. 
It  is  as  near  demonstration,  as  the  subject  will  admit, 
that  such  is  not  its  meaning. 

With  what  has  been  said  herein  upon  this  subject, 
I  would  press  the  question  home  upon  the  mind  of 
every  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  the  "  absolute  eter- 
nity" of  punishment,  if  he  can  believe,  that  if  this 
terrible  doctrine  is  Heaven's  truth,  that  the  God  of 
fSee  pp.  118—121,  of  this  M-ork. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  151 

all  grace  would  have  sanctioned  the  use  of  so  equi- 
vocal a  term,  by  his  spirit,  in  revealing  it  to  man  ? 
Might  we  not  expect  that  he  v/ould  have  caused  so 
tremendous  a  doctrine  to  have  been  set  forth  in  the 
most  plain,  positive  and  unequivocal  terms  ?  Had 
it  have  been  described  in  such  terms  as  are  used  by 
Philo  and  Josephus,  there  would  have  been  no  room 
for  dispute  about  the  matter.  But  as  it  is,  the  mat- 
ter is  left  in  the  most  utter  obscurity.  Should  we 
not  pause  and  consider,  before  we  presume  to  charge 
the  Creator  with  trifling  with  his  creatures  in  this 
way,  concerning  one  of  the  most  tremendous  subjects 
that  ever  claimed  the  attention  of  mankind  ? 


SECTION   V. CONCLUSION. 


In  the  preceding  part  of  this  chapter,  I  have  pre- 
sented a  variety  of  facts  and  considerations,  going  to 
show  that  the  terms  aibn  and  aidnios  do  not  contain 
the  meaning  of  "  absolute  eternity.''  In  conclusion, 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  notice  the  positive  side  of  the 
question,  and  some  of  the  objections  against  the 
position,  that  these  terms  do  not  mean  "  duration 
without  end." 

1.  I  remark,  that  these  words  bear  quite  a  variety 
of  senses.  Prof.  Stuart  considers  them  as  used  in 
the  Scriptures  with  something  like  ten  different 
meanings.     So  far  as  our  present  inquiry  is  con- 


152  universalist's  assistant. 

cerned,  there  are  but  two  senses  in  which  they  are 
used,  that  are  of  particular  interest.  So  far  as  the 
idea  of  duration  is  contained  in  them,  I  think  they 
are  well  defined  in  the  following  words  ;  viz.,  "  On 
the  supposition  that  aibn,  according  to  the  common 
opinion,  is  compounded  of  aei  and  on,  then,  if  ap- 
plied to  time,  it  would  signify  a  multitude  oi  periods 
or  times  united  to  each  other  \^  duration  indefinitely 
continued.  Its  proper  force,  in  reference  to  dura- 
tion, seems  to  be  more  that  of  uninterrupted  dura- 
tion than  otherwise  ;  a  term  of  which  the  duration  is 
continuous  so  long  as  it  lasts,  but  which  may  be 
completed  and  finished ;  as  age,  dispensation,  sae- 
culum,  in  a  general  sense.  If  applied  to  breath,  it 
would  signify  a  multitude  of  breathings,  or  breath- 
ing indefinitely  extended ;  and  if  applied  to  simple 
existence,  it  would  signify  existence  indefinitely  ex- 
tended.''] 

From  this  definition,  it  will  be  seen,  that  aion 
answers,  in  meaning,  very  nearly  to  the  Enghsh 
word  ever,  when  it  has  reference  to  duration.  The 
word  ever  expresses  the  idea  of  progression  and 
succession,  without  defining  the  duration  thereof; 
as  he  is  ever  moving ;  that  is,  he  is  continually,  un- 
interruptedly in  motion ;  but  it  does  not  describe  the 
length  of  time  he  will  be  in  motion.  This  is  entirely 
indefinite.     It  may  be  longer,  it   may  be    shorter. 

*  "  The   comprehension  of  many  times  or  periods." — 
Phavorinus. 
t  Christ.  Exam.,  No.  for  March,  1831,  p.  42. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL   V/ORDS.  153 

So  it  is  in  reference  to  the  terms  in  question,  when 
they  denote  duration  at  all.  The  duration  is 
entirely  indefinite^  depending  wholly  upon  the 
nature  of  the  subject  to  which  they  are  applied, 
or  the  connexion  in  which  they  occur.  Hence  we 
find  them  used  to  denote  widely  different  periods  of 
time  in  length,  varying  from  three  days  to  many 
ages,  as  they  are  used  in  the  Scriptures. 

The  reader  can  make  the  application  of  this  defi- 
nition to  the  texts  already  quoted,  for  himself, 
though  he  will  find  it  necessary  to  use  different 
English  words  to  express  their  meaning,  in  different 
connexions,  because  we  have  no  one  English  word 
answering  precisely  and  fully  to  the  meaning  of  the 
terms  aibn  and  aionios,  though  we  have  several 
which  will  fully  express  the  idea  in  different  con- 
nexions, and  as  applied  to  various  subjects.  Hence, 
in  translating,  we  are  necessitated  to  use  different 
words  in  different  connexions,  and  in  their  applica- 
tion to  different  subjects,  as  a  rendering  of  these 
terms.  I  will  give  an  example  or  two.^  '*  For 
their  anointing  shall  surely  be  a  priesthood  through 
the  AGE."t     "  And  he  shall  serve  him  all  the  days 

*  In  these  examples  I  shall  put  the  rendering  of  aion  and 
aidnios,  in  small  capitals,  to  save  repeating  the  Greek  words. 

t  The  following  remarks  of  Mr.  Locke  vnW  show  the  oc- 
casion of  the  use  and  the  idea  intended  by  the  rendering  of 
age  and  ages.  ''  The  nation  of  the  Jews  were  the  kingdom 
and  people  of  God,  whilst  the  law  stood.  And  this  kingdom 
of  God,  under  the  Mosaical  constitution,  w^as  called  alojv 
ovTog,  this  age,  or  as  it  is  commonly  translated,  this  world, 


154  untversalist's  assistant. 

OF  HIS  LIFE."  "  To  whom  be  glory  from  age  to 
AGE  ;"  that  is  continually.  "  They  are  written  for 
our  admonition  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  age  are 
come."  "  The  Lord  shall  reign  from  age  to  age 
and  beyond  the  ages ;"  that  is  for  an  indefinite,  an 
undefined  period  in  the  future.^ 

2.  The  other  sense  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made,  is  that  of  spiritiial.  When  applied  to  the 
life  of  the  righteous,  I  can  attach  no  other  sense  to 

to  which  aliin'  ivfOTwg,  the  present  world,  or  age,  here 
answers.  But  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  was  to  be  under 
the  Messiah,  wherein  the  economy  and  constitution  of  the 
Jewish  church,  and  the  nation  itself,  that,  in  opposition  to 
Christ,  adhered  to  it,  was  to  be  laid  aside,  is  in  the  New 
Testament  called  aLojv  uiXXvjv,  the  world,  or  age  to  come" 
Note  on  Gal.  1 :  4. 

"  Why  the  times,  under  the  law,  were  called  ;f^orot  uImvioi, 
we  may  find  reason  in  their  jubilees,  which  were  atuivtg, 
^<secula,"  or  "ages,"  by  whi^h  all  the  time  under  the  law, 
was  measured;  and  so  /ooroi  uiconoi  is  used,  2  Tim.  1 :  9. 
Tit.  1 :  2.  And  so  auovsc  are  put  for  the  times  of  the  law, 
or  the  jubilees,  Luke  1 :  70,  Acts  3  :  21,  1  Cor.  2  :  7,  10  :  11, 
Eph.  3  :  9,  Col.  1 :  26,  Heb.  9 :  26.  And  so  God  is  called 
the  rock  of  at'wrwv,  of  ages,  Isr  iah  26 :  4,  in  the  same  sense 
that  he  is  called  the  rock  of  Israel,  Isa.  30:  29,  i.  e. 
the  strength  and  support  of  the  Jewish  state ; — for  it  is  of 
the  Jews  the  prophet  here  speaks.  So  Exod.  21 :  6,  ttg 
rov  auora  signifies  not  as  we  translate  it,  '■'forever,"  but  "to 
the  jubilee  ;"  which  will  appear  if  we  compare  Lev.  25  :  39 
— 41,  and  Exod.  21 :  2.  See  "  Burthog's  Christianity,  a  re- 
vealed Mystery,"  pp.  17,  18."  Note  on  Rom.  16:  25.  These 
are  the  reasons  why  we  find  the  Jewish  age,  or  the  whole 
period  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  sometimes  spoken  of 
in  the  singular,  and  at  others  in  the  plural  number.  For 
the  same  reasons,  the  time  of  the  Messiah  is  called  the  age 
to  come,  and  at  others  the  ages  to  come. 

*  Exod.  40 :  15,  21 :  6,  Gal.  1 :  5,  1  Cor.  10  :  11,  Exod. 
15:  18. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL   WORDS.  155 

the  term  aid?iios,  except  that  of  spiritual.  This 
class  of  persons  go  into  spiritual  life — the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  liidAen,  a  concealed  life  ;  a  life  not  seen 
and  felt  by  the  world  at  large.  "  This  meaning, 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  was  very  ancient,  if 
not  the  original  meaning  of  the  word.  It  is  well 
known,  that  ancient  philosophers  believed  in  a  class 
of  beings,  called  aioens  or  ceons ;  which  were  said 
to  be,  either  mediately  or  immediately,  derivations 
from  the  Supreme  Divinity,  and  were  entirely 
spiritual  existences.  They  were  all,  originally, 
good  ;  but  some  of  them  had  become  wicked ;  and  so 
the  whole  class  answered  to  the  common  modern 
idea  of  angels,  on  the  one  hand,  and  devils  on  the 
other ;  or  generally,  to  what  we  mean  by  the  word 
spirits,  be  they  good  or  evil.  The  one  set  were 
happy,  the  other  unhappy;  but  the  happiness  or  un- 
happiness  was  wholly  of  a  spiritual  nature,  consist- 
ing essentially  in  the  state  of  each  individual's 
thoughts  and  feelings,  either  in  union  with,  or  in 
opposition  to  the  Divine  Mind.  These  beings,  as 
we  have  remarked,  were  called  ccbns,  and  the  word 
aionios,  the  adjective  of  this  name,  very  naturally 
expresses  something  having  the  nature  of  ceons; 
in  other  words,  something  spiritual  in  its  kind, 
be  its  duration  longer  or  shorter.  It  signifies 
something  of  that  nature  which  belongs  to  spirits  ; 
designating  the  kind,  or  nature  of  the  thing; 
and  showing  forth  something  relating  to  the  inward 


156  universalist's  assistant. 

thoughts  and  feelings  in  the  individual,  without  pre- 
cisely marking  the  period  of  its  continuance ;  the 
Greek  word  aibn,  answering  to  our  word  spirit,  and 
aibnios,  to  spirituaiy^ 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  go  into  a  defence  of  the 
opinion  that  spiritual  is  one  of  the  meanings  of 
aionios,  as  it  is  used  in  the  New  Testament.  I 
merely  suggest  it,  as  an  individual  conviction,  after 
long  and  patient  reflection  upon  the  subject,  for  the 
consideration  of  my  readers.  A  few  examples  of 
what  seems  to  be  such  a  usage  are  here  appended. 
"  Ye  know  no  murderer  hath  spiritual  life  abiding 
in  him."t  "  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believ- 
eth  in  him  that  sent  me,  hath  spiritual  life,  and 
shall  not  come  into  condemnation ;  but  is  passed 
from  death  unlo  life."t  "  Who  hath  loved  us  and 
given  us  spiritual  consolation. "§  And  so  of  a 
multitude  of  other  texts.  And  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  critical  grounds  upon  which  this  in- 
terpretation is  founded, II  one  thing  all  can  see,  and 
that  is,  that  this  interpretation  has  the  advantage  of 
conveying  to  the  mind,  in  such  connexions,  an 
intelligible  idea,  while  the  word  eternal  has  no  per- 

=^  Christ.  Exam.,  Vol.  5,  pp.  446,  447. 

t  John  3:  15.        I  Do.  6:49.        ^  2  Thess.  2  :  16. 

II  See  the  series  of  articles  in  the  Christian  Examiner  so 
often  quoted  from  in  this  work,  and  described  on  p.  131, 
where  is  a  very  full  exhibition  of  the  critical  grounds,  both 
classical  and  scriptural,  upon  which  spiritual  is  assigned  as 
one  of  the  meanings  of  aim-. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  157 

ceptible  meaning.  The  same  idea  is  applicable  to 
the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  Their  punishment, 
to  a  very  great  extent,  is  an  inward^  a  hidden  one — 
one  of  the  soul — the  thoughts  and  feelings  ;  the  dura- 
tion of  which  must  depend  upon  the  mutability  or 
permanency  of  the  character  the  individual  sustains. 
If  the  character  is  changeable,  then  the  duration  of 
the  punishment  it  causes,  must  be  uncertain,  indefi- 
nite. 

In  conclusion,  then,  I  remark,  that  if  the  terms 
aion  and  aibnios  are  as  indefinite,  in  regard  to  dura- 
tion, when  they  express  this  idea  at  all,  as  has  been 
shown,  as  I  trust,  most  satisfactorily,  they  are,  of 
all  imaginable  terms,  the  fittest  to  be  applied  to 
the  happiness  of  the  righteous  and  the  misery  of 
the  wicked  ;  for  nothing  is  or  can  be  more  uncer- 
tain, so  far  as  duration  is  concerned,  than  the 
happiness  and  misery  of  these  individuals.  And 
the  reason  is,  that  while  it  is  certain  every  man  will 
suffer  punishment  so  long  as  he  continues  to  sin,  we 
cannot  tell  how  long  he  will  remain  a  sinner.  As 
is  his  character  to-day,  so  will  be  his  condition  ; 
but  what  will  be  his  character  to-morroiv,  no  one 
can  tell.  If  to-day  he  is  a  sinner,  to-morrow,  he 
may  reform  and  become  a  saint,  and  so  vice  versa  ; 
and  with  his  change  of  character,  there  will  come 
a  corresponding  change  in  his  state  and  condition. 

I  will  now  notice  one  or  two  objections,  which 
have  been  urged  against  the  view  that  has  been 
^14 


1'58  uxiversalist's  assistant. 

presented  of  the  meaning  of  the  terms  in  question, 
though  they  are,  in  effect,  met  in  the  facts  ah'eady 
stated. 

1.  If  these  terms  do  not  express  an  endless  dura- 
tion, there  are  none  in  the  language  that  do.  This 
is  a  mistake.  ^^Aidnios  is  a  word  of  sparing  occur- 
rence among  ancient  classical  Greek  writers  ;  nor 
is  it,  by  any  means,  the  common  term  employed  by 
them  to  signify  eternal.  On  the  contrary,  they 
much  more  frequently  make  use  of  aidios^  aei  on, 
or  some  similar  mode  of  speech,  for  this  purpose.  .  . 
To  me  it  appears  that  the  Seventy,  by  choosing 
aibnios  to  represent  olam,  testify,  that  they  did  not 
understand  the  Hebrew  word  to  signify  eternal. 
Had  they  so  understood  it,  they  would  certainly 
have  translated  it  by  some  more  decisive  word  ; 
some  terra,  which,  like  aidios,  is  more  commonly 
employed  in  Greek,  to  signify  that  which  has  nei- 
ther beginning  nor  end."^'  The  same  word  is  used 
to  express  endless  duration  by  Philo  Judaeus,  with 
athanatos  and  atelentos,  and  also  by  Josephus. 
These  are  also  found  in  the  Scriptures  in  several 
instances,  with  akatalutos  and  aphtharsiaA  Thus, 
it  will  be  seen,  there  is  no  want  of  terms  in  the  lan- 
guage, to  express  absolute  eternity,  without  using 
aion  or  aibnios  at  all. 


*  Christian  Exam.,  No.  for  Sept.  1830.  pp.  25,  26. 
fRom.  1:  20.     Jude  6.     Heb.  7:  IG.     Rom.  1 :  7.    2 
Tim.  1  :  10. 


THE    RENDERING    OF    ORIGINAL    WORDS.  159 

2.  It  has  been  said,  if  these  terms  are  given  up  as 
expressing  absolute  eternity,  we  ca«not  prove  from 
the  Scriptures,  that  the  human  soul  will  exist  or 
the  righteous  be  happy  without  end.  This  is  also  a 
mistake.  The  word  commonly  used  to  describe  the 
duration  of  human  existence  in"  the  world  of  spirits, 
is  aphtharsia,^  immortality  or  indestructible  exist- 
ence, which  is  a  much  more  decisive  term  to  express 
endless  duration,  than  aion  or  aioniGs.i  So  in  regard 
to  the  duration  of  the  happiness  of  the  righteous  ;  the 
truth  is,  we  need  no  term  to  describe  its  duration. 
It  is  one  of  the  laws  of  God,  as  fixed  and  immuta- 
ble as  the  throne  of  the  Almighty  itself,  that  vice 
and  misery,  and  virtue  and  happiness,  are  insepar- 
ably united ;  that  they  are  coexistent  and  coexten- 
sive ;  and  that  they  will  remain  so  as  long  as  the 
human  soul  exists.  The  rigkteoics  will  remain 
happy  as  long  as  the  human  soul  exists  ;  but  the 
individual  only  so  long  as  he  is  righteous.  And 
so  with  the  ivicked  ;  they  wnll  be  punished  as  lons^ 
as  they  exist  in  any  world  ;  but  the  individual  only 
so  long  as  he  remains  wicked.  All  depends  upon 
this  circumstance,  as  to  the  duration  of  any  man's 
happiness  or  misery.  Every  man  will  be  happy  or 
miserable  just  so  long  as  he  is  good  or  bad  ;  and 
his  state  and  condition  will  ever  vary,  in  regard  to 
happiness  or  misery,  precisely  as  his  character 
varies,  in  reference  to  goodness  or  badness. 

*  atfSaoo'ia.  f  2  Tim.  1 :   10.     1  Cor.  15  :  53. 


160 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   HEBREW  WORD    SHEOL,   COMMONLY  REN- 
DERED GRAVE  AND  HELL,  CONSIDERED  AS 
AN  OBJECTION  TO  UNIVERSALISM. 

SECTION    I. PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 

In  times  past,  very  much  has  been  thought  and 
attempted  to  be  made  out  of  the  use  of  the  word 
hell,  in  the  Scriptures,  without  any  reference  to  the 
original  so  rendered,  as  an  argument  against  Uni- 
versalism.  It  was  thought,  when  a  text  was  pro- 
duced which  represents  the  wicked  as  cast  into  hell, 
it  was  a  sufficient  refutation  of  this  heresy,  and  a 
perfect  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine 
of  endless  punishment.  But  that  day  has  passed 
away;  and  now  the  inquiry  is — Do  the  English 
words  fairly  represent  the  idea,  intended  by  the 
original  ?  This  state  of  things  has  put  a  new  face 
upon  the  controversy.  The  discussion  has  been 
transferred  from  the  English  translation,  to  the 
words  used  in  the  original  Scriptures,  where  it 
rightfully  belongs,  although  attended  with  many 
inconveniences  in  managing  a  popular  discussion. 

In  the  original  Scriptures,  there  are  three  words 
translated  hell,  in  our  common  version  of  the  Bible  ; 
sheol^  Hades  and   Gehenna.     In  one  instance  there 


THE  HEBREW  WORD  SHEOL.         161 

occurs  a  verb,  which  is  in  effect  the  same  as  the 
use  of  a  fourth  word,  Tartartcs.^  But  while  per- 
sons are  frequently  represented  as  going  to  these 
places,  no  term  is  ever  connected  with  them,  calcu- 
lated to  convey  the  impression  that  their  continuance 
in  it,  is  to  be  duration  without  end.t 

Such  being  the  state  of  the  case,  it  might  be 
admitted,  that  these  words  denote  a  place  of  future 
punishment,  and  still  nothing  is  gained  in  the  way 
of  making  out  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
punishment.  This  is  just  as  far  from  being  proved 
after  this  admission  as  before  ;  and  if  established  at 
all,  it  must  be  done  by  some  entirely  distinct  and 
independent  testimony.  It  will,  therefore,  be  my 
object,  in  what  follows,  to  collect  and  present  all  the 
information  relative  to  the  meaning  of  these  terms, 
and  the  ideas  they  were'  intended  to  convey,  that  I 
can  command,  and  in  as  brief  a  space  as  I  may  be 
able,  and  make  the  m.atter  plain  and  intelligible  to 
all  who  Avill  think. 


*  V-ij^'j^',  al'dijc,  }'a*n«,  ruQTaooc. 

t  There  is  bat  one  text  in  which  Hades  occurs,  and  one 
■where  Gehenna  is  used  which  even  seems  an  exception  to  this 
remark.  In  these  instances,  the  imagery  associated  with 
these  words,  may  seevi  to  imply  a  contrary  idea  ;  but  a 
further  and  more  accurate  examination  of  the  matter  will 
satisfy  any  candid  and  intelligent  mind,  that  it  is  in  appear- 
ance only.  The  texts  are  Luke  16  :  23,  and  Matt.  18  : 
8,  9,  and  JMark  9 :  43—48.  See  pp.  186—193.  and  222 
—225. 

14=^ 


162  universalist's  assistant. 


SECTION    IL ADMISSIONS    OF    THE    LEARNED. 

While  some  are  very  confident  that  sheol  means 
a  place  of  endless  punishment,  as  most  of  the  older 
theologians  were,  others,  and  particularly  recent 
writers,  are  quite  diffident  in  these  claims.  Of  this 
number  is  Prof.  Stuart,  who  is  not  among  the 
least.  The  fartherest  he  ventures  to  go,  even  when 
writing  expressly  to  sustain  the  truth  of  the  doctrine 
of  eternal  punishment,  is  to  say,  in  regard  to  the 
following  texts — "  the  cases  in  which  sheol  may  des- 
ignate the  future  world  of  woe."^  "  They  spend 
their  days  in  wealth,  and  in  a  moment  go  down  to 
sheoV'\  "  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  sheol^ 
and  all  the  nations  that  forget  God."t  "  Her  feet 
go  down  to  death,  her  steps  take  hold  of  sheoV'^ 
"  But  he  knoweth  that  the  ghosts  are  there,  and  that 
her  guests  are  in  the  depths  of  sheol^'W  "  Thou 
shalt  beat  him  with  a  rod,  and  shall  deliver  his  soul 
from  5/^eoZ."1F 

These  are  all  the  places  where  he  thinks  this 
term  "  may  "  mean  "  the  future  world  of  woe  ;"  and 
after  devoting  nearly  five  pages  to  comments,  mostly 
of  an  interrogative  character,  designed  to  show  that 
*•  the  meaning  will  be  a  good  one,  if  we  suppose 
sheol  to  designate  future  punishment,"  he  concludes 

*  Exegetical  Essays,  p.  106.    f  Job  21 :  13.      %  Ps.  9  :  17. 
Prov.  5:5.  11  Do.  9  :  18.        ^  Do.  23 :  14. 


THE  HEBREW  WORD  SHEOL. 


163 


with  these  words ; — "  I  concede,  to  interpret  all  the 
texts  which  exhibit  sheol  as  having  reference  merely 
to  the  grave,  is  possible ;  and  therefore  it  is  possible 
to  interpret "  them  "  as  designating  a  death  violent 
and  premature,  inflicted  by  the  hand  of  Heaven  ;"^ 
and  finally  he  concludes  with  these  remarkable 
words  : — "  The  sum  of  the  evidence  from  the  Old 
Testament,  in  regard  to  sheol,  is,  that  the  Hebrews 
did,  PROBABLY,  in  some  cases,  connect  with  the  use 
of  this  v,'ord,  the  idea  of  misery  subsequent  to  the 
death  of  the  body.  It  seems  to  me,  that  we  may 
safely  believe  this ;  and  to  aver  more  than  this, 
would  be  somewhat  hazardous,  when  all  the  exam 
pies  of  the  word  are  duly  considered. "t 

This  is,  in  fact,  conceding  the  whole  ground  in 
debate  ;  for  if  it  is  not  safe  to  go  farther  than  to 
regard  the  Hebrews  as  in  some  cases  connecting  the 
idea  of  future  misery  with  this  word,  it  is  directly 
and  expHcitly  abandoning  it  as  the  name  of  the 
'place  of  endless  misery,  in  the  world  of  spirits, 
which  is  the  very  point  in  debate.  This  is  a  very 
important  admission,  and  with  it,  we  might  dismiss 
the  whole  subject,  so  far  as  Universalism  is  con- 
cerned ;  for  if  the  exhibitions  of  the  word,  in  the 
Old  Testament,  are  such,  as  to  force  from  one  pro- 
fessedly writing  against  this  doctrine,  such  admis- 
sions, the  case  must  be  a  sufficiently  plain  one. 

*  Exegetical  Essays,  p.  111.  f  Do.,  p.  114. 


164 


SECTION  III. AN  EXHIBITION  OF  THE  USAGE  OF  SHEOL. 

In  the  Old  Testament,  we  read  on  this  wise  :— 

"What  man  liveth,  and  seeth  not  death? 
"Who  can  deliver  himself  from  the  power  of  the  grave  ?* 

"  And  all  his  sons  and  all  his  daughters  rose  up 
to  comfort  him;  but  he  refused  to  be  comforted; 
and  he  said,  for  I  will  go  down  into  the  grave,  unto 
my  son  mourning."!  "  My  son  shall  not  go  down 
with  you ;  for  his  brother  is  dead,  and  he  is  left 
alone  ;  if  mischief  befall  him  by  the  way  in  which 
ye  go,  then  shall  ye  bring  down  my  gray  hairs 
with  sorrow  to  the  grave."! 


"  The  wafers  fail  from  the  lake, 

And  the  stream  drieth  up,  and  disappears  j 

So  man  lieth  down,  and  riseth  not ; 

Till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  he  shall  not  awake, 

Nor  be  roused  from  his  sleep. 

0  that  thou  wouldst  hide  me'in  the  under-wokld  ! 

That  thou  wouldst  conceal  me  till  thy  wrath  be  past  i  '"^ 

*'  Whatsoever  thy  hand  fmdeth  to  do,  do  it  with 
thy  might ;  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor 

*  Ps.  89  :  48.  I  shall  put  the  word  answering  to  sheol  in 
small  capitals. 

t  Gen.  37:  ,35. 

i  Gen.  43 :  38.  I  may  also  remark,  that  quotations  from 
Hebrew  poetry  are  from  Prof.  Noyes'  translations,  which  I 
would  commend  to  all  lovers  of  Hebrew  son^. 

<5>  Job  14:  11—13. 


THE  HEBREW  WORD  SHEOL.         165 

knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  the  grave  whither  thou 
goest."^ 

"  Therefore  my  heart  is  glad,  and  my  spirit  rejoiceth ; 
My  flesh  also  dwelleth  in  security  ; 
For  thou  wilt  not  give  me  up  to  the  gkave  ; 
Nor  wilt  thou  suffer  thy  holy  one  to  see  the  pit."t 
"I  cried,  by  reason  of  my  distress,  to  Jehovah, 
And  he  heard  me  ; 

Out  of  the  depth  of  the  under- woeld  I  cried, 
And  thou  didst  hear  my  voice. "^ 
"  For  thy  kindness  to  me  hath  been  great ; 
Thou  hast   delivered  me   from  the  very  depths  of  the 

GRAVE. "<^ 

"  But  God  will  redeem  my  life  from  the  grave  ; 

For  he  will  take  me  under  his  protection.'' || 

"  O  Lord,  thou  hast  raised  me  up  from  the  grave  ; 

Thou  hast  kept  me  alive,  that  I  should  not  go  down  to  the 

pit."ir 

''  The  Lord  killeth,  and  maketh  alive  ; 

He  bringeth  down  to  the  grave,  and  bringeth  up."** 

"  I  will  ransom  them  from  the  power  of  the  grave  ; 

I  will  redeem  them  from  death  ; 

0  death,  I  will  be  thy  plague  ! 

0  grave,  I  would  be  thy  destruction  !  "  f  f 

These  texts  may  serve  as  a  fair  sample  of  the 
manner  in  which  skeol  is  generally  used  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Among  the  learned,  I  believe  there  is 
but  one  opinion  as  to  its  meaning  in  such  con- 
nexions. All  agree,  that  the  term  is  used  to  desig- 
nate "  the  under-world,  the  region  of  the  dead,  the 
grave,  the  sepulchre,  the  region  of  ghosts  or  de- 
parted spirits. "$$     "  It  was  considered  as  a  vast  and 

*  Eccl.  9  :  10.  t  Ps.  16  :  10.  +  Jonah  2  :  2. 

^  Ps.  86  :  13.  II  Ps.  49  :  15.  T[  Ps.  30  :  3. 

**  1  Sam.  2  :  6.  ft  Hosea  13  :  14. 

XX  Stuart's  Exegetical  Essays,  p.  77. 


166  UiNiversalist's  assistant. 

wide  domain  or  region,  of  which  the  grave  seems 
to  have  been  as  it  were  only  a  part,  or  a  kind  of 
entrance-way.  It  appears  to  have  been  regarded 
as  extending  deep  down  into  the  earth,  even  to  its 

lowest    abysses In   this   boundless    region 

lived  and  moved  at  times,  the  manes  of  departed 
friends.'"^  Dr.  Campbell  says,  it  "  signifies  the 
state  of  the  dead  in  general,  without  regard  to  the 
goodness  or  badness  of  the  persons,  their  happiness 
or  misery.  This  state  is  always  represented  under 
those  figures  which  suggest  something  dreadful, 
dark,  and  silent,  about  w^hich  th%  most  prying  eye, 
and  listening  ear,  can  acquire  no  information."! 

"  In  the  under- world  of  the  Hebrews,  there  is 
something  peculiarly  grand  and  aw^ful.  It  was  an 
immense  region,  a  vast  subterranean  kingdom, 
involved  in  thick  darkness,  filled  with  deep  valleys, 
and  shut  up  with  strong  gates ;  and  from  it  there  is 
no  possibility  of  escape.  Thither  whole  hosts  of  men 
went  down  at  once ;  heroes  and  armies  vnth.  all 
their  trophies  of  victory;  kings  and  their  people 
were  found  there ;  w^here  they  had  a  sort  of  sha- 
dowy existence,  as  manes  or  ghosts,  neither  entirely 
spiritual  nor  entirely  material,  engaged  in  the  em- 
ployments of  their  earthly  life,  though  destitute  of 
strength  and  physical  substance."! 

*  Stnnrt's  Exegetical  Essays,  p.  1 10. 
t  Prelim.  Dissertations,  Diss,  (i,  pt.  2,  ^  2. 
I  South's  Lectures  on  Hebrew  Poetry,  p.  347.     Andover, 
1829. 


THE  HEBREW  WORD  SHEOL.         167 

Dr.  Good's  description  of  tiie  ideas  of  mankind 
in  the  earlier  ages,  concerning  the  dead  and  their 
state,  with  a  few  exceptions,  is  true  of  the  Hebrews, 
as  presented  in  the  use  of  sheol  in  the  Old  Testa- 
rcenl.  "  It  taught  that  the  disembodied  spirit  be- 
comes a  ghost  as  soon  as  it  is  separated  from  the 
corporeal  frame ;  a  thin,  misty,  aerial  form,  some- 
what larger  than  life,  with  a  feeble  voice,  and 
shadowy  limbs ;  knowledge  superior  to  what  it  pos- 
sessed while  in  the  flesh ;  capable,  under  particular 
circumstances,  of  rendering  itself  visible,  and  retain- 
ing so  much  of  its  former  features,  as  to  be  recog- 
nized upon  its  apparition  ;'^  in  a  few  instances, 
wandering  about  for  a  certain  period  of  time  after 
death;  but  for  the  most  part,  conveyed  to  a  com- 
mon receptacle  situated  in  the  interior  of  the 
earth.'"! 

*  This  Avas  the  idea  commonly  entertained,  not  only  by 
the  Orientals,  but  seems  to  have  been  the  common  notion 
of  mankind  generally  and  in  all  ages,  if  it  is  not  some- 
thing kindred  to  it  e^'-en  at  the  present  time.  A  fine  exhibi- 
tion of  the  viev,:b  cf  the  dead,  as  held  by  the  people  of 
northern  Europe,  may  be  seen  in  Ossian's  Poems.  See 
the  poem  entitled  Carric-Thnra,  on  pp.  31 — 43.  New 
York.  1835,  8vo. 

"  He  lifted  high  his  shadowy  spear  !  He  bent  forward 
his  dreadful  height.  Fingal,  advancing,  drew  his  sword ;  the 
blade  of  dark-brown  Luno.  The  gleaming  path  of  the 
steel  winds  through  the  gloomy  ghost.  The  form  fell  shape- 
less into  air,  like  a  column  of  smoke,  which  the  staff  of  the 
boy  disturbs,  as  it  rises  from  the  half-extinguished  furnace." 
p.  37.  "The  forms  were  empty  winds."  pp.  97,  112. 
''The  stars  dim-twinkled  through  his  form."  pp.  144,  284, 
312,  336. 

t  Book  of  Nature,  p.  335:  New  York,  1831.     See  also 


16S  tjniversalist's  assistant. 

That  such  were  the  ideas  of  the  Hebrews,  is 
sufficiently  manifest,  from  the  following  texts,  in 
addition  to  those  already  quoted ;  although  it  can- 
not be  doubted,  that  some  considerable  change  took 
place  in  their  ideas,  between  the  time  in  which  the 
first  and  the  last  books  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
written. 

" Canst  thou  search  out  the  deep  things  of  God? 

Canst  thou  reach  the  perfection  of  the  Almighty  ? 

'Tis  high  as  heaven,  what  canst  thou  do? 

Deeper  than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know  ?  "* 

"  Whither  shall  1  go  from  thy  spirit, 

And  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ? 

If  I  ascend  into  heaven,  thou  art  there ! 

If  I  make  my  bed  in  hades,  behold,  thou  art  there  !  "f 

'^  Though  they  dig  down  to  the  loaver  world, 

Thence  shall  my  hand  take  them. ''':{: 

<' Hades  beneath  is  in  commotion  on  account  of  thee, 

To  meet  thee  at  thy  coming ; 

He  stirreih  up  before  thee  the  shades,  all  the  mighty  of  the 

earth ; 
He  arouseth  from  their  thrones,  all  the  kings  of  the  nations  ; 
They  all  accost  thee,  and  say. 
Art  thou,  too,  become  weak  as  we  ? 
Art  thou  become  like  us  ?"^ 
<'  In  the  day  when  he  went  down  to  the  grave, 
I  caused  the  deep  to  mourn,  I  covered  it  for  him. 
At  the  sound  of  his  fall  I  made  the  nations  to  shake, 
When  I  cast  him  down  to  the  grave. 
They  also  went  down  into  the  grave  with  him. 
To  them  that  have  been  slain  with  the  sword." || 
"  The  mightiest  heroes  from  the  midst  of  the  pit  shall  speak 

to  him  and  his  helpers  ; 

Barnes'  Introduction  to  his  Notes  on  Job,  pp.  Ixxxix — xciv. 
(10)  where  is  a  very  full  and  accurate  statement  of  the 
Hebrew  views  of  the  future  state. 

*  Job  11:  7— 8.  fPs.  139:7,  8.  ^  Amos  9  :  2. 

^  Isaiah  14  :  9.  10.  |!  Ezek.  31 :  15—17. 


THE  HEBREW  WORD  SHEOL.  69 

For  they  are  gone  down,  they  lie  uncixcumcised,  slain  by 

the  sword. 
Shall  they  not  lie  with  the  mighty  of  the  uncircumcised  that 

are  fallen, 
Who  have  gone  down  to  the  pit  with  their  weapons  of  war, 
Having  their  swords  laid  under  their  heads, 
And  their  iniquity  resting  upon  their  bones, 
Though  thev  were  the  terror  of  the  mighty  in  the  land  of  the 

living?"* 

Comment  upon  such  language  as  this,  is  quite 
unnecessary.  It  confirms,  in  the  most  plain  and 
explicit  manner,  the  views  that  have  been  advanced, 
in  regard  to  the  ideas  of  the  Hebrews,  concerning 
the  realm  of  the  dead,  as  indicated  by  the  term  sheol. 
These  texts  also  show,  that  this  term  means  some- 
thing widely  different  from  what  the  English  word 
hell  does,  as  now  commonly  used  ;  though  it  is 
beyond  all  controversy,  that  "  the  word  hell  in  its 
primitive  signification  perfectly  corresponded  "  with 
that  of  sheolA 

Although  all  men  go  to  sheol  at  death,  it  is  often 

*Ezek.  32:  21  and  27. 

t  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Prel.  Diss.  D.  6,  P.  2,  i>  2. 
So  Dr.  A.  Clarke,  Com.  on  Matt.  11 :  23.  So  also  Dr. 
Anthon,  Class.  Die.,  Art.  Had-es  ;  and  Prof.  Stuart's  Exeget. 
Essays,  p.  93. 

Dr.  Anthon  says,  '•  As  regards  the  analogy  between  the 
term  hades  and  our  Engli.sh  word  hell,  it  may  be  remarked, 
that  the  latter,  in  its  primitive  signification,  perfectly  corre- 
sponded to  the  former.  For.  at  first,  it  denoted  only  what 
was  secret  or  concealed ;  and  it  is  found,  moreover,  with 
little  variation  of  form,  and  precisely  with  the  same  mean- 
ing, in  all  the  Teutonic  dialects."  This  fact  may  serve  to 
explain  the  singular  use  that  is  made  of  the  term  hell  in  our 
common  version  of  the  Scriptures. 
15 


170  ttniversalist's  assistant. 

represented  as  a  punisliment  to  be  sent  there,  not 
that  men  are  sent  there  to  be  punished.  This  was 
not  the  Hebrew  idea,  however  it  may  be  in  fact. 
They  regarded  it  a  punishment  in  the  same  way 
that  we  now  do  to  die.  All  men  die ;  yet  death  is 
sometimes  a  punishment.  It  is  so,  when  men  are 
forced  out  of  the  world,  for  their  crimes,  by  the 
executioner's  hands.  So  when  men  were  forced  into 
sheol  against  their  wills,  in  consequence  of  their 
sins,  it  was  a  punishment.  Hence  it  is  said,  "  The 
wicked  are  driven  away  in  their  wickedness ;  '"^ 
and  that  "the  wicked  shall  be  thrust  into  hell."t 

*  Prov.  14  :  32.  anvja&i'iosrai,  from  anwdiw,  to  thrust  from, 
implying  the  idea  of  force,  as  in  driving  away  an  enemy, 
Ps.  43 :  2. 

t  Ps.  9  :  17. 


171 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  GREEK  WORD  HADES,  COMMONLY  RENDERED 

HELL  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,  CONSIDERED 

AS  AN  OBJECTION  TO  UNIVERSALISIVI. 

SECTION    I. PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 

The  word  hades  is  commonly  used,  in  the  Greek 
version  of  the  Old  Testament,  called  the  Septua- 
gint,  as  the  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  word  sheol ; 
and  it  undoubtedly  bears  the  same  general  meaning. 
Indeed,  this  is  universally  conceded  at  the  present 
day,  as  it  is  also,  in  regard  to  the  primitive  mean- 
ing of  our  English  word  hell.  But  the  two  last 
of  these  words  have  undergone  very  considerable 
changes  in  their  meaning,  as  we  all  know  is  the 
case  in  regard  to  our  English  word  hell ;  and  as 
will  appear  by  a  comparison  of  the  New  with  the 
Old  Testament  usage  of  the  term  hades.  To  notice 
but  one  circumstance.  In  the  New  Testament,  we 
find,  in  one  case  at  least,  an  individual  represented 
as  lifting  up  his  eyes  in  torment  in  hades  ;^  a  rep- 
resentation to  which  there  is  nothing  analogous  in 
the  Old  Testament.  But  nothing  is  said  as  to  the 
duration  of  this  torment,  even  in  this  individual 
case. 

*  Luke  16  :  23. 


172  universalist's  assistant. 

Beside,  neither  in  this  or  any  other  text  where 
hades  is  used  to  represent  a  place  of  torment,  can 
it  bear  the  sense  of  endless ;  for  everywhere  in  the 
Scriptures  it  is  spoken  of  as  a  place  that  is  to  be 
destroyed.  The  following-  texts  may  serve  as  ex- 
amples. "  And  death  and  hell  delivered  up  the 
dead  which  were  in  them.  .  .  .  And  death  and 
HELL  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."^  "  0  death, 
where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory ?  "t  If  this  be  true,  how  can  this  be  a  place 
of  endless  punishment?  What  will  become  of  its 
miseries,  when  all  its  inhabitants  shall  be  taken  out 
of  it ;  every  knee  brought  to  bow,  and  every  tongue 
to  confess  to  the  glory  of  God ;  and  when  at  last, 
both  the  place  and  its  king  shall  be  hurled  into 
utter  and  irretrievable  ruin,  and  a  song  of  triumph 
sung  over  them  ?  So  plainly  do  the  facts  present 
this  subject,  that  the  most  staunch  believers  and 
defenders  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment, 
are  forced  to  abandon  this  term  as  affording  any 
proof  of  this  doctrine.  The  most  they  will  main- 
tain is,  that  it  is  used  to  denote  punishment  in  an 
intermediate  state. I  A  time  is  to  come  when  death 
and  hades  "  are  no  more  to  exercise  any  power  over 
the  human  race."<^     Hence,  there  is  no  necessity  for 

*  Rev.  20  :  13,  14.  f  Cor.  15  :  55. 

$  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Diss.  6,  P.  2,  ^  13.  Exeget. 
Essays,  p.  133. 

^Stuart's  Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  133.  <'The  king  of  Hades, 
and  Hades  itself,  i.  e.,  the  region  or  domains  of  death,  are 


THE  GREEK  WORD    HADES.  173 

entering  into  a  lengthy  discussion,  to  show  that  this 
term  affords  no  argument  in  favor  of  the  doctrine 
of  eternal  punishment.  We  may  therefore  give  our 
entire  attention  to  the  consideration  of  what  was 
really  meant  by  this  term,  by  mankind  in  the  past 
ages  of  the  world,  and  the  opinions  associated  with  it. 
This,  I  trust,  will  be  a  subject  not  altogether  devoid 
of  interest.  It  is  one  invested  with  great  interest 
to  every  curious  mind,  that  loves  to  know  what  men 
have  thought  in  the  past. 


SECTION    II. CLASSICAL    AND    JEWISH    USAGE    OF    THE 

TERM  HADES. 

"  According  to  Grecian  mythology,  hades  is  the 
place  of  departed  spirits."  It  is  a  word  formed 
"  from  a,  not^  and  eidb^  to  see,  as  denoting  the  lovv'er 
or  invisible  world. '"^     Prof.  Stuart  says,  "  Hades,  in 


represented  as  cast  into  the  burning  lake.  The  general 
judgment  being  now  come,  mortality  having  now  been 
brought  to  a  close,  the  tyrant  death,  and  his  domains  along 
Avith  him.  are  represented  as  cast  into  the  burning  lake,  as 
objects  of  abhorrence  and  of  indignation.  They  are  no> 
more  to  exercise  any  power  over  the  human  race." 

•'Whatever  the  state  of  either  the  righteous  or  the  wicked 
may  be,  whilst  in  Hades,  i.  e.,  under  the  dominion  of  death, 
that  state  will  certainly  cease,  and  be  exchanged  for  another, 
at  the  general  resurrection."     Ibid.,  p.  136. 

*  Anthon's  Class.  Die,  Art.  Hades. 
1.5% 


174  universalist's  assistant. 

the  view  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  was  the  under- 
world, the  world  of  the  dead,  a  place  deep  in  the 
earth,  dark,  cheerless  ;  where  everything  was  un- 
substantial and  shadowy."^  A  few  passages  from 
the  poets  will  serve  to  verify  these  statements,  and 
may  not  be  uninteresting. 

"Here  in  a  lonely  land,  and  gloomy  cells, 

The  dusky  nation  of  Cimmeriaf  dwells  ; 

The  sun  ne'er  views  the  uncomfortable  seats, 

When  radiant  he  advances  or  retreats. 

Unhappy  race  !  whom  endless  night  invades, 

Clouds  the  dull  air,  and  wraps  then  round  in  shades.":}: 

The   guide   of  ^neas,  after  giving  him  certain 

directions  in  regard  to  preparing  for  his  descent  into 

hades ^  tells  him, 

"  This  done,  securely  take  the  destined  way, 
To  find  the  regions  destitute  of  day,"^ 

This  place,  like  the  Hebrew  sheol,  is  represented 
as  shut  up  with  gates,  and,  unlike  the  latter,  guard- 
ed by  sentinels. 

"  Wide  is  the  fronting  gate,  and,  raised  on  high 
With  adamantine  columns,  threats  the  sky. 
Vain  is  the  force  of  man,  and  heaven's  as  vain, 
To  crush  the  pillars  which  the  pile  sustain. 
Sublime  on  these  a  tower  of  steel  is  reared; 
And  dire  Tisiphone  there  keeps  the  ward, 
Girt  in  her  sanguine  gown,  by  night  and  day, 

*Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  128. 

t  Cimmeria  or  Cimmerium,  ivas  an  imaginary  place, 
near  the  island  of  iEea,  which  island  lay  off  the  western 
coast  of  Sicily,  and  was  the  fabled  abode  of  Circe  and  her 
companions." — Stuarfs  Exeget.  Esx.,  p.  124. 

X  Pope's  Homer,  Odys.  xi.  15 — 20. 

I  Dryden's  Virgil,  ^neid  6,  231. 


THE  GREEK  WORD    HADES.  l1f§ 

Observant  of  souls  that  pass  the  downward  way."* 

"The  gates  of  hell  are  open  night  and  day ; 

Smooth  the  descent,  and  easy  is  the  way."f 

"  Just  in  the  gate,  and  in  the  jaws  of  hell, 

Revengeful  Cares  and  sullen  Sorrows  dwell, 

And  pale  Diseases,  and  repining  Age, 

Want,  Fear,  and  Famine's  unresisted  rage  ; 

Here  Toils,  and  Death,  and  Death's  half-brother  Sleep, 

Forms  terrible  to  view,  their  sentry  keep ; 

With  anxious  pleasures  of  a  guilty  mind, 

Deep  Frauds  before,  and  open  Force  behind  ; 

The  Furies'  iron  beds  ;  and  Strife,  that  shakes 

Her  hissing  tresses,  and  unfolds  her  snakes. 

Full  in  the  midst  of  this  infernal  road. 

An  elm  displays  her  dusky  arms  abroad ; — 

The  god  of  sleep  there  hides  his  heavy  head  ; 

And  empty  dreams  on  ev'ry  leaf  are  spread. 

Of  various  forms  unnumbered  spectres  move, 

Centaurs,  and  double  shapes,  besiege  the  door. 

Before  the  passage  horrid  Hydra  stands, 

And  Briarius  with  all  his  hundred  hands  ; 

Gorgons,  Geryon  with  his  triple  frame  ; 

And  vain  Chimaera  vomits  empty  flame.":}: 

This  place,  like  sheol,  is  pervaded  by  rivers,  one 

of  which  it  was  necessary  to  cross  on  entering  it. 

"Hence  to  deep  Acheron^  they  take  their  way. 
Whose  troubled  eddies,  thick  with  ooze  and  clay, 
Are  whirled  aloft,  and  in  Cocytus|l  lost. 

*  Dryden's  Virgil,  ^neid,  vi.  744—751. 

fDo.  ^neid,  vi.  192. 

t  Dryden's  Virgil,  ^neid,  vi.  384—403. 

§  "  The  poets  make  Acheron  to  have  been  the  son  of  Sol 
and  Terra,  and  to  have  been  precipitated  into  the  infernal 
regions  and  there  changed  into  a  river,  for  having  supplied 
the  Titans  with  water  during  the  war  which  they  waged 
with  Jupiter.  Hence  its  waters  were  muddy  and  bitter  ; 
and  it  was  the  stream  over  which  the  souls  of  the  dead 
were  first  conveyed." — AntJion's  Class.  Die,  Art.  Acheron. 

\\  "  Cocytus,  a  riv^er  of  Epirus,  which,  according  to  Pausa- 
nias,  blended  its  nauseous  waters  with  those  of  the  Ache- 
ron." The  poets  made  it  one  of  the  rivers  of  the  lower 
world.     Ibid.,  Art.  Cocytus. 


176  .  universalist's  assistant. 

There  Charon  stands,  who  rules  the  dreary  coast — 

A  sordid  god ; — down  from  his  Jioary  chin, 

A  length  of  beard  descends,  uncombed,  unclean ; — 

His  eyes,  like  hollow  furnaces  on  fire  : 

A  girdle,  foul  with  grease,  binds  his  obscene  attire. 

He  spreads  his  canvass  ;  with  his  pole  he  steers ; 

The  freights  of  flitting  ghosts  in  his  thin  bottom  bears. 

He  look'd  in  years  ;  yet,  in  his  years  were  seen 

A  youthful  vigor,  and  autumnal  green."* 

The  inhabitants  of  this  dreary  reahn  were  the 
unsubstantial  shades  of  the  dead,  hke  those  of  sheol. 
Prof.  Stuart  says,  "  The  manes  were  neither  body 
nor  spirit ;  but  something  intermediate,  not  palpa- 
ble to  any  of  the  senses,  except  to  the  sight  ana 
hearing ;  pursuing  the  mere  shadows  of  their  occu- 
pations on  earth,  and  incapable  of  any  plans,  enjoy- 
ments, or  satisfaction  which  were  substantial."! 
When  Ulysses  met  his  mother  in  the  realm  of  the 
dead,  he  says, 

''Thrice  in  my  arms  I  strove  her  shade  to  bind. 

Thrice  through  my  arms  she  slip'd  like  empty  wind, 

Or  dreams,  the  vain  illusions  of  the  mind. 

Wild  with  despair,  T  shed  a  copious  tide 

Of  flowing  tears,  and  thus  with  sighs  replied ; 

Fliest  thou,  loved  shade,  while  I  thus  fondly  mourn? 

Turn  to  my  arms,  to  my  embraces  turn  ! 

Is  it,  ye  powers  that  smile  at  human  harms ! 

Too  great  a  bliss  to  weep  within  her  arms  ? 

Or  has  hell's  queen  an  empty  image  sent, 

That  wretched  I  might  ev'n  my  joys  lament  ? 

Oh  son  of  woe  !  the  pensive  shade  rejoin'd, 

Oh  most  iruired  lo  grief  of  all  mankind! 

'Tis  not  the  queen  of  hell  who  thee  deceives  ; 

All,  all  are  such,  when  life  the  body  leaves. 

No  more  the  substance  of  the  man  remains, 

*  Dr.yden's  Virgil,  ^ueid,  vi.  410—421. 
jExeget.  Ess.,  p.  218. 


THE  HEBREW  WORD  SHEOL. 


177' 


Nor  bounds  the  blood  along  the  purple  veins  ; 
These  the  funereal  flames  in  atoms  bear, 
To  wander  with  the  wind  in  empty  air  ; 
While  the  impassive  soul  reluctant  flies, 
llike  a  vain  dream,  to  these  infernal  skies."* 
"Comest  thou  alive  to  view  the  Stygian  bounds, 
Where  the  wan  spectres  walk  eternal  rounds  ; 
Nor  fear'st  the  dark  and  dismal  waste  to  tread, 
Thronged  with  pale  ghosts,  familiar  with  the  dead?''! 

"  The  dead,  without  distinction  of  good  or  evil, 
age  or  rank,  wander  there,  conversing  about  their 
former  state  on  earth ;  they  are  unhappy,  and  they 
feel  their  wretched  state  acutely.  They  have  no 
strength  or  power  of  body  or  mind.  .  .  .  Noth- 
ing can  be  more  gloomy  and  comfortless  than  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  realm  of  hades,  as  pictured  by- 
Homer,  "t  Hence,  when  Ulysses  congratulated 
Achilles  on  account  of  the  honorable  position  he 
held  in  this  realm,  his  reply  is, — 

•'  Talk  not  of  ruling  in  this  dolorous  gloom, 

Nor  think  vain  words,  he  cried,  can  ease  my  doom. 

Rather  I  'd  choose  laboriously  to  bear 

A  weight  of  woes,  and  breathe  the  vital  air, 

A  slave  to  some  poor  hind  that  toils  for  bread. 

Than  reign  the  sceptred  monarch  of  the  dead."§ 

"  The  chief  beheld  their  chariots  from  afar. 

Their  shining  arms,  and  coursers  trained  to  war. 

Their  lances  fix'd  in  earth — their  steeds  around. 

Free  from  their  harness,  graze  the  mimic  1|  ground. 

*  Pope's  Homer,  Odys.,  xi.  248—268.     f  Do.  xi.  583—586. 

+  Anthon's  Class.  Die,  Art.  Pluto. 

\  Pope's  Homer,  Odyssey,  xi.  595—600. 

HI  have  substituted  ''mimic,''  from  Dr.  Good's  transla- 
tion, as  more  in  conformity  with  the  spirit  of  the  passage, 
than  "^o?y'?-y,"  which  Pope  uses. — Book  of  Nature,  p.  336. 
Ncn  York.    1831. 


178  universalist's  assistant. 

The  love  of  horses  which  they  had,  alive, 
And  care  of  chariots,  after  death  survive."* 

"  In  the  Homeric  times,  the  prevalent  belief  was 
merely  as  follows;  that  the  souls  of  the  departed, 
with  the  exception  of  those  who  had  personally  of- 
fended against  the  gods,  v^ere  occupied  in  the  lower 
world  with  the  unreal  performances  of  the  same 
actions  that  had  formed  their  chief  objects  of  pur- 
suit in  the  regions  of  day."t  "  Some  few,  enemies 
of  the  gods,  such  as  Sisyphus,  Tityus,  Tantalus,  are 
punished  for  their  crimes,  but  not  apart  from  the  rest 
of  the  dead.  "I 

"  In  process  of  time,  when  communication  "with 
Egypt  and  Asia  had  enlarged  the  sphere  of  the 
ideas  of  the  Greeks,  the  nether  world  underwent  a 
total  change.  It  w^as  now  divided  into  two  separate 
regions  ;  Tartarus,  which,  in  the  time  of  Homer  and 
Hesiod,  was  thought  to  lie  far  beneath  it,  and  to  be 
the  prison  of  the  Titans,  became  one  of  these 
regions,  and  the  place  of  punishment  for  wicked 
men ;  and  Elysium,  which  lay  on  the  shore  of  the 
stream  of  Ocean,  the  retreat  of  the  children  and 
relatives  of  the  king  of  the  gods,  was  moved  down 
thither  to  form  the  place  of  reward  for  good  men."§ 

According  to  "  the  new-modified  under-world," 
in  the  days  of  Virgil,  Hades  was  the  residence  of 
souls,  to  prepare  them  to  reanimate  new  bodies  in 

*Drvdeivs  Virgil,  iEneid,  vL,  885—890. 

fAnthon's  Class.  Die,  Art.  Hades.  %  Do.  Art.  Fluto.   ^  Do. 


THE  HEBREW  WORD  SHEOL.         179 

this  world.  "  The  Eiver  of  Oblivion"  was  intro- 
duced, of  which  the  dead  were  to  drink,  that  they 
might  forget  the  past,  before  taking  possession  of 
new  bodies.^ 

"Now,  in  a  secret  vale,  the  Trojan  sees 

A  sep'rate  grove,  through  which  a  gentle  breeze 

Plays  with  a  passing  breath,  that  whispers  through  the 

trees ; 
And,  just  before  the  confines  of  the  wood. 
The  gliding  Lethe  leads  her  silent  flood. 
About  the  boughs  an  airy  nation  flew, 
Thick  as  the  humming  bees,  that  hunt  the  golden  dew 
In  summer's  heat ;  on  tops  of  lilies  feed, 
And  creep  within  their  bells,  to  suck  the  balmy  seed  ;— 
The  winged  army  roams  the  field  around ; 
The  rivers  and  the  rocks  remurmur  to  the  sound. 
^neas  wond'ring  stood,  then  ask'd  the  cause 
Which  to  the  stream  the  crowding  people  draws. 
Then  thus  the  sire  :— The  souls  that  throng  the  flood, 
Are  those  to  whom,  by  Fate,  are  other  bodies  owed. 
In  Lethe's  lake  they  long  oblivion  taste. 
Of  future  life  secure,  forgetful  of  the  past. 

O  Father !  can  it  be,  that  souls  sublime 
Return  to  visit  our  terrestrial  clime. 
And  that  the  gen'rous  mind,  released  by  death. 
Can  covet  lazy  limbs,  and  mortal  breath  ? "' 

In  reply  Anchises  goes  into  a  very  particular 
statement  of  the  reasons  for  such  an  arrano-ement, 
and  among  other  things  says, 


nor  can  the  grovelling  mind. 


In  the  dark  dungeon  of  the  limbs  confined, 

*  'an  the  sixth  book  of  Virgil's  .^neid  will  be  found  the 
richest  and  fullest  description  of  the  new-modified  under- 
world, and  for  those  who  love  to  trace  the  progress  and 
change  of  ideas,  it  will  not  be  an  uninteresting  employ- 
ment to  compare  it  with  that  in  the  eleventh  book  of  Ho- 
mer's Odyssey."     Anthon's  Class.  Die.  Art.  Pinto. 


180  universalist's  assistant. 

Assert  the  native  skies,  or  own  its  heav'nly  kind ; 

Kor  death  itself  can  wholly  wash  their  stains  ; 

But  long-contracted  filth  ev'n  in  the  soul  remains. 

The  relics  of  invet'rate  vice  they  wear ; 

And  spots  of  sin  obscene  in  ev'ry  face  appear. 

For  this  are  various  penances  enjoin'd  ; 

Some  are  hung  to  bleach  upon  the  wind, 

Some  plunged  in  waters,  others  purged  in  fires, 

Till  all  the  dregs  are  drain'd,  and  all  the  rust  expires. 

All  have  their  manes,  and  those  manes  bear ; — ■ 

The  few,  so  cleansed,  to  these  abodes  repair, 

And  breathe,  in  ample  fields,  the  soft  Elysian  air. 

Then  they  are  happy,  when  iDy  length  of  time 

The  scurf  is  worn  aAvay  of  each  committed  crime  ; 

No  speck  is  left  of  their  habitual  stains ; 

But  the  pure  ether  of  the  soul  remains. 

But,  when  a  thousand  rolling  years  are  past, — 

So  long  their  punishments  and  penance  last, — 

Whole  droves  of  minds  are,  by  the  driving  god, 

Compell'd  to  drink  the  deep  Lethean  flood. 

In  large  forgetful  draughts,  to  steep  the  cares 

Of  their  past  labors  and  their  irksome  years, 

That,  unrememb'ring  of  its  former  pain, 

The  soul  may  suffer  mortal  flesh  again."* 

Such  were  the  views  entertained  by  the  most 
enUghtened  heathen  nations,  of  the  realm  of  the 
dead.  And  nothing  can  be  more  obvious  to  any  one 
who  goes  into  a  careful  examination  of  the  subject, 
than  that  the  views  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
underwent  a  gradual  change,  relative  to  hades,  be- 
tween the  days  of  Homer  and  those  of  Virgil.  A 
similar  change  took  place  in  the  Hebrew  mind,  be- 
tween the  days  of  Moses  and  those  of  our  Saviour,  so 
that,  in  his  times,  the  opinions  of  the  Jews,  concern- 
ing the  world  of  spirits,  very  nearly  coincided  with 

*Dryden's  Virgil,  ^neid,  vi.,  9.'53— 102O. 


THE    HEBREAV    WORD    SHEOL.  181 

those  entertained  by  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans, 
as  above  described.^^  There  was,  probably,  some 
diversity  of  opinion  among  them  ;  but  these,  or  opin- 
ions very  nearly  like  them,  generally  prevailed  in 
the  times  of  the  Saviour,  among  the  Pharisees  in 
particular.  Unlike  both  the  Greeks  in  Homer's 
time,  and  the  Hebrews  in  the  days  of  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  both  the  Greeks  and  Jews  of  these  la- 
ter periods,  divided  hades  into  two  parts,  the  place 
of  happiness  and  the  place  of  misery.  So,  too,  both 
came  to  believe,  that,  after  a  certain  number  of  years, 
souls  returned  to  the  earth  to  inhabit  other  bodies.! 
"  The  Jews  did  not,  indeed,  adopt  the  pagan  fables, 
on  this  subject,  nor  did  they  express  themselves,  en- 
tirely, in  the  same  manner ;  but  the  general  train  of 
thinking,  in  both,  came  pretty  much  to  coincide. 
The  Greek  hades  they  found  well  adapted  to  ex- 

*  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Diss.  6,  Ft.  2,  ^  19. 

t "  The  prevalent  and  distinguishing  opinion  was,  that 
the  soul  survived  the  body,  that  vicious  souls  would  sufier 
an  everlasting  imprisonment  in  Jiades,  and  that  the  souls  of 
the  virtuous  would  both  be  happy  there,  and,  in  process  of 
time,  obtain  the  privilege  of  transmigrating  into  other 
bodies That  this  Pythagorian  dogma  was  be- 
come pretty  general  among  the  Jews,  appears  even  from 
some  passages  in  the  Gospels."  Carapbell's  Four  Gospels, 
Diss.  6,  Ft.  2,  ^  19.  So  of  the  Pharisees,  it  is  said  by  Jose- 
phus — "  They  also  believe  that  souls  have  an  immortal  vigor 
in  them,  and  that,  under  the  earth,  there  will  be  rewards  and 
punishments,  according  as  they  have  lived  virtuously  or 
viciously  in  this  life  ;  and  the  latter  are  to  be  detained  in  an 
everlasting  prison,  but  that  the  former  shall  have  power  to 
revive  and  live  again.''  Antiquities,  B.  18,  Ch.  1,  <^  3. 
Whiston's  Tr. 

16 


182  universalist's  assistant. 

press  the  Hebrew  sheol.  This  they  came  to  con- 
ceive as  including  different  sorts  of  habitations,  for 
ghosts  of  different  characters.  And,  though  they 
did  not  receive  the  terms  Elysium,  or  Ely sian  fields , 
as  suitable  appellations  for  the  regions  peopled  by 
good  spirits,  they  took,  instead  of  them,  as  better 
adapted  to  their  own  theology,  the  garden  of  Eden^ 
or  Paradise,  a  name  originally  Persian,  by  which 
the  word  answering  to  garden,  especially  when  ap- 
plied to  Eden,  had  commonly  been  rendered,  by  the 
Seventy.  To  denote  the  same  state,  they  sometimes 
used  the  phrase  Abraham's  bosom,  a  metaphor  bor- 
rowed from  the  manner  in  which  they  reclined  at 
meals.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  to  express  the  un- 
happy situation  of  the  wicked,  in  that  intermediate 
state,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  declined  the  use  of 
the  word  tartar  us. ''''^ 

So  much  for  the  classical  and  Jewish  usage  of  the 
term  hades  ;  from  which  it  appears,  by  the  facts  pre- 
sented and  the  best  authority,  that  the  ideas  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  and  those  of  the  Jews  of  our 
Saviour's  time,  very  nearly  coincided.  It  now  re- 
mains for  us  to  examine  the  New  Testament  usnge 
of  this  term. 

*  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Diss.  6,  Ft.  2;  §  19. 


183 


SECTION    m. — NEW    TESTAMENT   USAGE   OF    THE   TERM 
HADES. 

Having  exhibited  the  classical  and  Jewish  view 
of  the  meaning  of  the  term  hades,  the  question  very 
naturally  arises, — Did  the  WTiters  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament use  it  in  the  same  sense  ?  I  say  the  New 
Testament,  because  it  is  with  this  alone  that  we 
are  now  concerned  ;  as  the  Old  Testament  represen- 
tation of  the  under-world  was  exhibited  in  the  con- 
sideration of  the  meaning  of  the  term  sheol. 

I  think  no  man,  who  has  paid  the  slightest  atten- 
tion to  the  manner  in  which  this  term  is  used  in 
the  New  Testament,  can,  for  one  moment,  doubt, 
what  answer  to  return  to  this  question.  Such  a 
person  must  admit,  that  so  far  as  usage  is  con- 
cerned, the  evidence  is  most  conclusive,  that  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  used  this  term,  nei- 
ther in  precisely  the  same  sense  as  the  classics, 
nor  yet  in  that  of  the  Jews  of  their  time ;  but  in  the 
more  general  sense  of  the  Septuagint  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  entirely  in  conformity  with 
the  earlier  usage  of  the  Hebrew  word  sheol,  for  the 
state  of  the  dead  in  general,  as  beneath  the  surface 
of  the. ground.  An  example  or  two  will  verify  this 
view.  "  Thou  Capernaum,  which  art  exalted  to 
heaven,  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hades  s^"^  i.  e., 

*  Matt.  11 :  23. 


184  universalist's  assistant. 

you  who  are  exalted  to  the  highest  point  of  gran- 
deur and  magnificence,  and  enjoy  the  highest  privi- 
leges, shall  be  brought  down  to  lowest  depths  of 
degradation  and  ruin.  "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my 
soul  in  hades ;  nor  suffer  thy  holy  one  to  see  cor- 
ruption;"^ i.  e.,  thou  wilt  not  permit  my  spirit  to 
remain  in  the  state  of  the  dead,  until  my  body  shall 
decay.  Hence  Prof.  Staart  says,  "  We  here  find  it 
sometimes  employed  in  almost  or  quite  a  literal 
sense,  i.  e.,  as  meaning  world  beneath^  under-world ; 
sometimes  in  a  sense  similar  to  that  of  Orcus  or 
Inferrms,  i.  e.,  the  place  of  departed  souls ;  and 
sometimes  in  the  sense  of  kingdom  or  region  of  the 
dead,"^  And  afterwards  he  adds — "  That  the 
Hebrews  used  the  Greek  word  hades,  so  as  to  cor- 
respond in  general  with  their  sheol,  is  quite  plain. 
....  We  can  no  more  argue  that  hades,  as  used 
by  them,  did  in  all  respects  mean  the  same  as  it  did 
among  the  Greeks,  than  we  can  argue  in  like  man- 
ner in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  words  theos,  angelos, 
soter^'X  etc. 

So  much  for  the  general  sense  in  which  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  used  the  term  hades. 
But  although  they  commonly  used  it  in  perfect  con- 
formity with  the  Old  Testament  usage  of  sheol,  yet 
there  are  instances  in  which  it  seems  to  me,  the 
New  Testament  writers  used  it  in  a  sense  peculiar 
to  themselves.     They  seem  to  have  used  it  in  more 

=*  Acts  2  :  31.     t  Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  129.     %  Ibid.,  p.  136. 


NEW   TESTAMENT   USAGE    OF   HADES.  185 

of  a  spiritual  sense,  for  the  state  of  the  dead,  with- 
out any  reference  to  the  locality — whether  it  is  in 
the  sky,  under  the  earth,  or  somewhere  else.  This 
seems  a  necessary  inference  from  the  general  char- 
racter  of  their  language,  in  reference  to  a  future 
state.  Hence,  when  Christ  rose  from  the  dead  and 
went  to  heaven,  he  is  represented  as  going  up  into 
heaven.^  So  Stephen,  when  he  was  stoned,  looked 
up  into  heaven  and  saw  God  and  Christ.t  So  St. 
Paul  says  "  he  was  caught  up  into  paradise."!  So 
too,  it  is  asked — "  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven  ? 
that  is,  to  bring  Christ  down,  or  who  shall  descend^ 
into  the  deep  ?  that  is,  to  bring  Christ  up  again  from 
the  dead."§  Hov/  are  we  to  reconcile  this  language 
with  the  prevalent  view,  that  both  the  place  of  hap- 
piness and  that  of  misery  are  doivn  beneath  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  ?  It  appears  to  me,  the  only  way 
to  solve  the  difficulty  is,  to  suppose  they  used  the 
term  hades,  in  a  modified  sense,  for  the  world  of 
spirits,  the  same  as  they  have  the  word  anastasiSi 
translated  in  our  common  version,  resurrection,  in 
the  general  sense  of  future  life,  without  reference 
to  the  manner  of  attaininof  it.ll 


*  Mark  6  :  9.    Luke  24 :  15.  f  Acts  7  :  55. 

X  2  Cor.  12  :  2—4.  ^  Rom.  10  :  7. 

II  The  word  avunTaoig  was  used  by  the  Jews  in  the  times 
of  oar  Saviour  to  designate  a  sort  of  metempsychosis  or  trans- 
migration of  souls  ;  while  nothing  can  be  more  obvious, 
than  that  no  such  thing  was  intended  byjt,  as  used  by 
Christ  and  his  apostles. 
16^ 


186  universalist's  assistant. 

There  is  one  instance  of  a  peculiar  usage  of  the 
term,  in  question.  Unlike  all  other  passages  in 
which  it  occurs,  it  represents  an  individual  as  lifting 
up  his  eyes  in  torment,  in  hades.  Standing  out  by 
itself  as  it  does,  an  exception  to  all  other  occurrences 
of  the  word,  it  seems  but  just  that  it  receive  espe- 
cial attention.  A  separate  section,  therefore,  will 
be  devoted  to  its  consideration. 


SECTION    IV. EXPOSITION    OF    LUKE    16:    23. 

The  language  of  this  text  is — "  The  rich  man 
also  died ;  and  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being 
in  torments."  The  connection  in  which  these 
words  are  found,  and  the  discourse  of  which  it 
makes  a  part,  is  confessedly  a  parable  ;  and  it  will 
at  once  be  perceived,  by  every  one  who  will  take  the 
pains  to  read  it  with  any  tolerable  degree  of  atten- 
tion, that  it  was  addressed  to  the  Jews,  who  per- 
sisted in  the  rejection  of  Jesus,  as  the  Messiah,  in 
the  face,  and  in  defiance,  of  the  clearest  and  most 
convincing  testimony.  And  not  only  so,  but  they 
perverted  the  teachings  of  Moses,  and  the  prophets, 
so  as  to  answer  their  own  base  and  selfish  desis^ns 


Pt.  2,  ^  19.  "  The  immortality  of  human  souls,  and  the 
transmigration  of  the  good,  seem  to  have  been  all  they  com- 
prehended in  the  phrase  avaaraotg  rwv  vty.owv.  Indeed,  the 
words  strictly  denote  no  more  than  the  renewal  of  life," 


NEW    TESTAMENT    USAGE    OF    HADES.  187 

and  purposes.  Hence  the  parable  closes  with  these 
words  ; — "  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
neither  would  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead."  To  illustrate  this  fact,  the  parable 
was  uttered — their  perversity,  and  their  hardened 
and  determined  obstinacy.  And  the  statement  was 
fully  demonstrated,  by  their  subsequent  conduct, 
in  relation  to  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  himself. 
They  had  no  more  faith  in  him  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, than  they  had  before.  It  was  to  rebuke  them 
for  their  perverseness  and  obstinacy,  that  this  para- 
ble was  spoken.  This  was  its  main  design,  while, 
perhaps,  in  its  arrangement,  there  was  a  subordi- 
nate purpose,  to  expose  and  rebuke  some  of  their 
theological  opinions,  which  had  a  direct  bearing 
upon  their  practices,  with  a  peculiar  reference  to 
their  future  condition. 

The  whole  parable,  I  regard  a  sort  of  argumen- 
tum  ad  hominem^  as  the  logicians  say ;  or  an  argu- 
ment against  them,  drawn  from  their  own  admitted 
doctrines  and  notions.  Jesus  does  not  state  his 
own  belief  upon  this  subject ;  but  admits,  for  the 
sake  of  the  argument,  their  peculiar  notions  about 
the  future  state,  without  intending  to  sanction  them 
as  true  thereby.  He  then  takes  two  individuals, 
one  whose  character  and  circumstances  were  per- 
fectly conformable  to  their  ideas  of  moral  rectitude. 
A  man  who  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  of  wealth,  so 
far  as  position  in  society  and  leisure  to  seek  his  own 


188  universalist's  assistant. 

good  and  happiness  were  concerned — one  who  was 
chargeable  with  no  particular  immoralities  or  crimes ; 
an  individual  we  should  now  term  a  very  good, 
moral  sort  of  a  man,  who  did  no  one  any  particular 
good  or  hurt ;  an  inefficient,  good-natured,  harmless, 
unconcerned  sort  of  a  character,  intent  upon  secur- 
ing his  own  selfish  gratification ;  a  man  who  was 
disposed  to  do  a  favor  for  a  fellow  if  he  came  in  his 
way,  and  it  would  not  cost  him  too  much  effort,  or 
interfere  very  much  with  his  own  ease  or  pleasure ; 
a  man  who  lived  chiefly  to  pamper  his  appetites  and 
passions,  without  concerning  himself  much  about 
other  people's  happiness  or  misery.  Such  a  selfish 
mortal,  as  a  Jew,  they  supposed,  when  dead,  and 
his  body  composed  in  the  tomb,  was  sure  of  enter- 
ing into  the  society  and  becoming  a  favorite  of  Abra- 
ham in  the  future  world. 

He  then  introduces  another  individual  in  contrast 
with  this  man,  whose  condition  and  circumstances 
are  as  diflferent  as  possible.  He  is  a  miserable  beg- 
gar, whose  body  was  a  mass  of  disease.  He  was 
so  covered  with  ulcers,  that  he  was  an  object  of 
loathing  and  abhorrence  to  all  who  might  approach 
him.  In  the  eye  of  a  Jew,  the  very  circumstance  of 
an  individual's  being  in  so  miserable  a  condition, 
was  the  most  conclusive  evidence,  that  he  had  been 
guilty  of  some  enormous  and  shocking  crime,*  for 

*  Luke  13  :  1 — 5.  See  Kenrick's  remarks  on  this  place. 
Also  BarneSj  Livermore,  Paige  and  others  in  loco. 


NEW    TESTAMENT    USAGE    OF    HADES.  189 

which  he  was  doomed  to  drag  out  a  miserable  exist- 
ence here,  as  a  prelude  to  a  more  miserable  exist- 
ence hereafter. 

Both  of  these  men  die.  One  in  his  splendid 
mansion,  surrounded  by  friends  and  magnificence 
to  minister  to  his  wants  and  soothe  the  pangs  of 
mortal  disease,  and  he  is  buried  in  pomp  and  splen- 
dor; while  the,  other  departs  in  loneliness,  and  is 
either  denied  the  rite  of  burial,  or  hurried  away  to 
his  grave  by  his  few  poor  and  destitute  friends,  or 
by  some  stranger,  in  so  private  a  manner,  that  the 
event  is  unnoticed. 

Jesus  then  changes  the  scene  from  this  to 
the  world  of  the  dead,  as  their  imaginations 
had  conceived  it,  and  there  presents  them  wqth 
these  individuals  in  circumstances  entirely  reversed. 
The  rich  man  now  is  in  miserable  circumstances, 
and  becomes  the  one  to  ask  favors  of  him  who  had 
been  deemed  unfit  to  be  received  into  his  mansion 
on  earth.  All  this  was  subordinate  to  the  main' 
design  of  the  parable,  to  expose  to  them  their  false 
views  of  the  means  of  securing  future  bliss  ;  to  show 
them,  that  according  to  their  own  views  of  a  future 
world,  they  had  entirely  mistaken  the  grounds  of 
admittance  to  a  condition  of  happiness  in  that  state  ; 
that  instead  of  being  what  they  had  supposed, 
a  faithful  observance  of  the  rites  of  the  ceromonial 
law,  a  descendance  from  Abraham,  and  a  decent 
regard  to  the  laws  of  morality — a  sort  of  negative 


190  universalist's    assistant. 

goodness — it  demands  a  positive  goodness — purity 
and  benevolence  of  heart,  v^rhich  looks  beyond  self 
and  selfish  gratifications,  upon  the  great  world  of  suf- 
fering humanity,  and  will  prompt  the  individual  to 
active  efforts  for  human  good — efforts  that  will 
demand  some  sacrifice  of  personal  ease  and  selfish 
gratification. 

A  conversation  is  then  introduced,  as  being  car- 
ried on  between  Abraham  and  this  rich  man,  who 
mutually  acknowledge  each  other  as  father  and  son, 
in  allusion,  probably,  to  the  fact  of  his  being  a  true 
son  of  the  Jewish  church,  first  in  relation  to  his  own 
condition,  and  then  in  reference  to  his  Jewish 
brethren.  These,  he  evidently  regarded,  as  on  the 
direct  road  to  the  same  condition  as  he  very  unex- 
pectedly found  himself  in  ;  and  that  the  only  way 
for  them  to  escape,  was  by  reformation,  for  which 
he  manifested  no  little  anxiety.  This  was  the 
point  at  which  the  whole  parable  is  aimed — to 
show,  that  according  to  their  own  views,  the  whole 
of  them  were  on  the  direct  road  to  a  place  of  mis- 
ery, which  they  had  supposed  expressly  fitted  up 
and  solely  for  heathens  and  some  exceedingly  wick- 
ed persons  ;  such  as  suicides,  and  those  guilty  of 
enormous  and  shocking  crimes  ;  and  that  they  were 
so  wrapped  up  and  deluded  with  self-righteous- 
ness, and  so  full  of  obstinacy,  that  they  would 
hearken  to  no  warning  voice,  not  even  of  one  from 
the  dead.     Such  is  my  view  of  the  meaning  of  this 


NEW  TESTAMENT    USAGE    OF    HADES.  191 

parable.  But  I  do  not  suppose  that  Jesus  meanc, 
in  this,  to  sanction  their  views  of  the  future  world 
as  true,  more  than  the  writer  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  intended  to  be  understood  as  admitting  the 
reality  of  the  existence  and  supernatural  power  of 
the  heathen  deity,  Apollo,  in  saying  that  a  certain 
girl  was  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  Python.^  It 
was  merely  confuting  some  of  their  errors  and 
rebuking  their  obstinacy,  by  admitting  their  own 
opinions.  And  this  was  most  effectually  done,  in 
putting  the  rebuke  into  the  mouth  of  their  father 
Abraham,  on  whose  account  they  claimed  such 
high  prerogatives. 

How  far  this  parable  may  be  urged  in  favor  of 
the  opinion,  that  the  consequences  of  sin  do  extend 
beyond  this  life,  may,  perhaps,  be  a  question.  Al- 
though I  believe,  most  firmly,  that  the  consequences 
of  sin  do  extend  beyond  this  life,  I  cannot  rely  upon 
this  text  as  proof  of  it.  I  think  it  no  evidence  that 
Jesus  entertained  such  a  view,  because  the  whole 
structure  of  the  story  recognizes  and  is  founded 
upon  the  common  opinions  of  the  Jews  and  hea- 
thens, which  were  substantially  the  same,  and  1 
cannot  bring  myself  to  believe,  that  he  meant  to  be 
understood,  as  teaching,  that  these  views  were  in 
conformity  with  the  actual  state  of  things  in  the 
world  of  spirits. 

In  regard  to  the  idea,   that  this  text  teaches  the 

*  See  p.  61,  of  this  work,  note. 


192  universalist's  assistant. 

doctrine  of  endless  misery,  nothing  can  be  more 
groundless ;  for  not  a  word  is  said  or  intimated,  as 
to  the  duration  of  the  states  of  either  of  these  men. 
That,  of  necessity,  depended  upon  their  continuing 
to  sustain  their  respective  characters,  even  if  the 
parable  was  designed  as  an  express  recognition  of 
the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  future  punishment."^ 
Beside  this,  there  is  no  truth  more  clearly  revealed 
in  the  Bible,  than  that  hades  itself  is  to  be  destroyed, 
and  a  song  of  triumph  sung  over  it  by  man.t 

In  regard  to  the  impassable  gulf,  upon  which  the 
idea,  that  the  punishment  mentioned  in  this  para- 
ble is  to  be  endless,  there  is  really  no  argument 
afforded  by  it,  in  favor  of  this  opinion,  even  admit- 
ting it  was  designed  to  recognize  the  truth  of  the 
doctrine  of  future  punishment ;  because  there  is 
just  as  impassable  a  gulf  between  the  good  and  the 
bad  in  this  world,  as  in  the  next.  A  good  man, 
while  good,  can  no  more  enter  into  the  state  of  the 
bad  here,  than  he  can  hereafter ;  nor  the  bad  into 
that  of  the  good.  Still  all  admit,  that  those  now 
bad  men  may  get  into  the  state  of  the  good  any 
time,  while  they  remain  in  this  world  at  least.  In- 
deed, it  is  one  of  the  leading  aims  of  the  gospel  to 
secure  this,  by  removing  this  great  gulf  out  of  the 
way,  which  it   does  by  converting  bad  into  good 

*  See  pp.  129—133,  of  this  work, 
t  See  p.  172  of  this  work,  note. 


NEW  TESTAMENT    USAGE    OF    HADES.  193 

men.  Hence  we  read  of  men's  passing  from  death 
unto  life  ;'^  and  of  their  being  translated  from  the 
kingdom  of  darkness  into  that  of  God's  dear  Son.t 
It  is  not  man's  outward  condition,  which  constitutes 
his  essential  happiness  or  misery,  as  a  moral  being ; 
but  his  inward  state.  The  only  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  any  man's  entrance  into  a  state  of  happiness,  is 
his  own  moral  condition.  This  is  the  impassable 
gulf  fixed  in  every  wicked  man's  path,  and  the  only 
one  in  any  world;  not  an  outward  barrier.  So  that, 
although  this  gulf  is  impassable,  a  way  is  provided 
by  which  it  may  be  removed  out  of  every  man's 
path.  Let  him  become  a  good  man  and  it  will 
vanish  away,  no  matter  where  he  is,  whether  in 
this  world  or  the  next. 

*  John  5:  24.  •       f  Col.  1:13. 

17 


194 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  GREEK  WORD  TARTARUS,  RENDERED  HELL 
IN  OUR  COMMON  VERSION  OF  THE  NEW  TES- 
TAMENT, CONSIDERED  AS  AN  OBJEC- 
TION TO  UNIVERSALISM. 

The  word  Tartarus^  does  not  occur  in  the  Scrip- 
tures at  all;  "but  a  denominative  verb,  ^(2r^a?-oo,t 
which  means  to  send  to  Tartarus,  to  confine  in 
Tartarus,  to  punish  in  Tartarus,  occurs  in "  one 
place. t  "  Here  it  is  said,  that  God  spared  not  the 
angels  who  sinned,  but  confining  them  in  Tartarus, 
he  put  them  in  chains  of  darkness,  incarcerated  for 
trial  or  kept  for  judgment. "<i>  This  is  an  exceed- 
ingly tame  rendering  of  the  original,  and  falls  very 
far  short  of  giving  anything  like  its  full  force.  A 
more  literal  rendering  would  be,  "  but  hurled  them 
down  to  hell  ;"ll  or  "  thrust  them  down  to  Tartarus.  "H 
The  term  tartarosas^^  conveys  the  idea  of  violence 
or  force  directed  against  the  wishes  and  efforts  of 
an  antagonist. 

In  the  Greek  mythology,  Tartarus  was  "  the 
fabled  place   of  punishment   in   the   lower  world. 

*  ruOTanoq.  ^xaQxaQoM.  |  2  Pet.   2:   4. 

^Stuart's  Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  137. 
II  Donnegan's  Lex.,  in  raQxaQow. 
^  Robinson's  Greek  Lex.     Ibid. 


THE     GREEK    WORD    TARTARUS.  195 

According  to  the  ideas  of  the  Homeric  and  Hesiodic 
ages,  it  would  seem  that  the  world  or  universe  was 
a  hollow  globe,  divided  into  two  equal  portions  by 
the  flat  disk  of  the  earth.  The  external  shell  of 
this  globe  is  called  by  the  poets  brazen  and  iron, 
probably  only  to  express  its  solidity.  The  superior 
hemisphere  was  named  Heaven,  and  the  inferior 
one  Tartarus.  The  length  of  the  diameter  of  the 
hollow  sphere  is  given  thus  by  Hesiod.  It  would 
take,  he  says,  nine  days  for  an  anvil  to  fall  from 
Heaven  to  Earth ;  and  an  equal  space  of  time 
would  be  occupied  by  its  fall  from  Earth  to  the  bot- 
tom of  Tartarus.  The  luminaries  which  give  light 
to  gods  and  men,  shed  their  radiance  through  all 
the  interior  of  the  upper  hemisphere,  while  that  of 
the  inferior  one  was  filled  with  eternal  darkness, 
and  its  still  air  was  unmoved  by  any  wind.  Tarta- 
rus was  regarded,  at  this  period,  as  the  prison  of 
the  gods,  and  not  as  the  place  of  torment  for  wicked 
men  ;  being  to  the  gods,  what  Erebus  was  to  men, 
the  abode  of  those  who  were  driven  from  the  super- 
nal world.  The  Titans,  when  conquered,  were 
shut  up  in  it,  and  Jupiter  menaces  the  gods  with 
banishment  to  its  murky  regions.  The  Oceanus 
of  Homer  encompassed  the  whole  earth,  and  beyond 
it  was  a  region  unvisited  by  the  sun,  and  therefore 
shrouded  in  perpetual  darkness,  the  abode  of  a  peo- 
ple whom  he  names  Cimmerians.  Here  the  poet 
of  the  Odyssey  also  places   Erebus,    the   realm  of 


196  universalist's  assistant. 

Pluto  and  Proserpina,  the  final  dwelling-place 
of  all  the  race  of  men,  a  place  which  the  poet  of 
the  Iliad  describes  as  lying  within  the  bosom  of 
the  earth.  At  a  later  period,  the  change  of  reli- 
gions gradually  affected  Erebus,  the  place  of  the 
reward  of  the  good ;  and  Tartarus  was  raised  up, 
to  form  the  prison  in  which  the  wicked  suffered  the 
punishment  due  to  their  crimes."^ 

Prof.  Stuart  says,  "  Tartarus  is  employed,  in 
Greek,  to  designate  a  supposed  subterranean  region, 
as  deep  down  below  the  upper  part  of  Hades  as  the 
earth  is  distant  from  heaven."!  A  few  passages 
from  the  classics  relating  to  this  subject,  may  not  be 
altogether  uninteresting.  Jupiter  is  represented  as 
forbidding  all  the  gods  from  interfering  in  a  battle 
about  to  be  fought,  and  threatening  them,  if  disobe- 
dient, in  these  words, — 

"What  god  but  enters  yon  forbidden  field, 

Who  yields  assistance,  or  but  wills  to  yield, 

Back  to  the  skies,  with  shame,  he  shall  be  driven, 

Gash'd  with  dishonest  wounds,  the  scorn  of  heaven. 

Or  far,  oh  far  from  steep  Olympus  thrown, 

Low  in  the  dark  Tartarean  gulf  shall  groan, 

With  burning  chains  fix'd  to  the  brazen  floors, 

And  lock'd  by  hell's  inexorable  doors  ; 

As  deep  beneath  the  infernal  centre  hurled, 

As  from  that  centre  to  the  ethereal  world. "| 

In  speaking  of  this  place  Virgil  makes  nearly  the 
same  representation,  and  describes  it  only  as  the 
place  where  the  gods  are  pimished. 

*  Anthon's  Class.  Die,  Art.  Tartarus.      f  Essays,  p.  137. 
t  Pope's  Homer,  Iliad,  B.  viii.  11—20. 


NEW    TESTAMENT    USAGE    01'    HADES.  197 

'*  'T  is  here,  in  diff 'rent  paths,  the  way  divides ; — 
The  right  to  Pluto's  golden  palace  guides, 
The  left  to  that  unhappy  region  tends, 
Which  to  the  depths  of  Tartarus  descends — 
The  seat  of  night  profound  and  punished  fiends. 

The  gaping  gulf  low  to  the  centre  lies, 
And  twice  as  deep  as  earth  is  distant  from  the  skies. 
The  rivals  of  the  gods,  the  Titan  race. 
Here,  singed  with   lightning,  roll  within  th'  unfathomed 
space."* 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  seen,  that  Tar- 
tarus is  only  a  part  of  Hades.  According  to  the  older 
classics,  it  was  the  place  where  the  gods  only  were 
confined.  But  in  later  times  it  came  to  be  regarded 
as  a  place  of  punishment  for  wicked  men.  Hence, 
Prof.  Stuart  says; — "It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
general  conception  of  Hades,  as  meaning  the  region 
of  the  dead,  comprised  both  an  Elysium  and  a 
Tartarus,  or  a  state  of  happiness  and  a  state  of 
misery."!  That  such  was  the  fact  in  the  more 
modern  times,  particularly  among  the  Jews,  admits 
of  little  doubt. 

Now  the  question  is,  did  the  apostle,  in  the  text 
under  consideration,  mean  to  be  understood  to  teach 
the  same  doctrine  as  the  heathen  and  the  Jews  of 
his  time  held  ?  Did  he  mean  to  be  understood  to 
say,  that,  beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground,  there 
was  a  vast  region,  to  which  all  men  go  at  death, 
and  that  that  region  was  divided  into  a  place  of 

*  Dryden's  Virgil,  ^neid  vi.  726—783.     f  Essays,  p.  135. 
17=^ 


198  universalist's  assistant. 

happiness  and  a  place  of  misery?  If  he  adopted 
the  heathen  or  Jewish  ideas  upon  this  subject, 
between  whom  there  was  little  difference,  except  in 
the  use  of  terms,  such  must  have  been  what  he 
meant.  But  who  will  pretend  to  defend  such  an 
opinion  ?  I  hardly  think  any  one  can  be  found 
willing  to  accept  such  a  christianized  heathenism. 
Beside,  if  the  apostle  intended  to  describe  a  place 
of  future  punishment  by  the  use  of  this  word,  it 
must  have  been  regarded  merely  as  temporary ;  for 
these  angels  were  only  confined  there  to  await  their 
trial.  Such  a  confinement,  of  course,  is  limited  in 
its  duration,  whatever  may  follow  the  trial. 

The  term  Tartarus  "  is  occasionally  employed,  in 
the  later  classic  writers,  for  the  under-world  in 
general.'"^  In  other  words,  it  is  employed  to  sig- 
nify not  the  prison  of  Hades  alone,  but  the  same  as 
Hades  itself.  So  similiar  is  it  to  the  language  in 
one  of  the  Psalms,  that  one  is  almost  forced  to  think 
the  apostle  had  that  text  in  his  mind  when  he 
penned  this.  "The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into 
hell."t  That  is,  they  should  come  to  a  violent 
death — should  be  forced  out  of  this  world  and  into 
the  future,  against  their  wills  and  efforts.  So  these 
angels,  be  they  what  they  may,  were  forced  out  of 
the  state  or  mode  of  existence  in  which  they  were, 
into  another  and  untried  condition.  This  view  of  its 
meaning  is  confirmed  by  the  circumstance,  that  it  is 

*  Stuart's  Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  137.  f  Ps.  9 :  17. 


NEW   TESTAMENT   USAGE    OF    HADES.  199 

described  as  a  place  of  darkness.  "  Delivered  them 
into  chains  of  darkness."  This  goes  strongly  to 
confirm  the  opinion,  that  Tartarus  is  here  used  in 
the  sense  of  sheol  and  hades;  for  these  terms  always 
denote  a  place  of  darkness. 


200 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    HEBREW-GREEK  WORD    GEHENNA  ALWAYS 

RENDERED  HELL  IN  THE  COMMON  VERSION 

OF   THE   NEW    TESTAMENT,   CONSIDERED 

AS  AN  OBJECTION  TO  UNIVERSALISM. 

SECTION    I. PRELIMINARY    OBSERVATIONS. 

The  term  Gehenna  is  the  one  universally  fixed 
upon  by  the  advocates  of  the  "  absolute  eternity " 
of  punishment,  as  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  is 
to  be  inflicted,  "  That  gehenna  is  emplo^^ed  in  the 
New  Testament,  to  denote  the  place  of  future 
punishment,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels, 
is  indisputable.  This  is  the  sense,  if  I  mistake  not, 
in  which  Gehenna  is  always  to  be  understood  in  the 
New  Testament,  where  it  occurs  just  twelve 
times. '"^  "  It  is  a  word  peculiar  to  the  Jews,  and 
was  employed  by  them  some  time  before  the  com- 
ing of  Christ,  to  denote  that  part  of  sheol  w^hich  was 
the  habitation  of  the  wicked  after  death.  This  is 
proved  by  the  fact  of  its  familiar  use  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  by  the  fact  of  its  being  found  in 
the  apocrypha  books  and  Jewish  Targums,  some  of 
which  were   written   before    the    time  of  our    Sa- 

*  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Diss.  6,  Pt.  2,  ^  1. 


THE    WORD   GEHENNA.  2QI 

viour."^  By  future  punishment  is  here  intended 
endless  punishment. 

Such  is  the  ground  assumed  by  the  believers  in 
the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  and  the  ques- 
tion is — Is  it  well  founded?  It  is  admitted,  that 
the  Pharisees  and  the  Essenes,  in  the  times  of  our 
Saviour,  believed  in  the  endless  punishment  of  the 
wicked,  and  the  question  to  be  settled  is — Did  they 
use  the  term  Gehenna  to  describe  the  plave  where 
this  punishment  was  to  be  inflicted  ?  That  it  was 
used  by  the  Jews,  some  hundreds  of  years  after 
Christ,  to  designate  the  place  of  the  damned,  is 
freely  admitted.  "  It  is  admitted,  that  the  Jews  of 
a  later  date,  used  the  word  Gehenna  to  denote  Tar- 
tarus, that  is,  the  place  of  infernal  punishment."! 
The  Christians  of  the  second  century  so  understood 
the  matter.  Clemens  Alexandrinus  says — "  Does 
not  Plato  acknowledge  both  the  rivers  of  fire,  and 
that  profound  depth  of  the  earth  which  the  bar- 
bariansl^  call  Gehenna  ?  Does  he  not  mention  pro- 
phetically, Tartarus,  Cocytus,  Acheron,  the  Phlege- 
thon  of  fire,  and  certain  other  places  of  punishment, 
which  lead  to  correction  and  discipline  ?  ""^ 

But  the  question  is  not  what  were  the  facts  in 
regard  to  the  usage  of  this  term  some  centuries 
after  Christ.     It  is — What  are  they  as  presented  at 

*  Tract  224,  p.  31.  f  Stuart's  Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  141. 

X  By  barbarians,  is  here  intended  the  Jews. 
\  Universalist  Expositor,  Vol.  2,  pp.  366,  367. 


202  universalist's  assistant, 

and  before  his  time  ?  The  whole  force  of  the  argu- 
ment, a  priori  as  it  is,  depends  upon  its  being 
made  out  by  fair  and  unexceptionable  testimony — 
by  witnesses  which  cannot  be  impeached — that  the 
term  gehenna  was  so  used  at  that  precise  time. 
Testimony  as  to  what  was  the  state  of  the  case  at  a 
subsequent  period,  is  only  a  presumption  as  to  what 
was  the  fact  at  that  time.  It  is  only  an  argument 
a  posteriori,  which  would  be  entitled  to  considerable 
weight,  if  not  arrested  by  any  conflicting  circum- 
stances, belonging  to  that  earlier  period. 

Now  the  appeal  is  made,  to  sustain  the  position, 
that  Gehenna  is  used  as  the  name  of  the  place  of 
infernal  punishment  by  the  Jews,  as  we  have  seen, 
to  certain  Jewish  writings,  called  the  Targums  and 
the  Talmuds,^  and  also  to  the  apocryphal  writ- 
ings of  the  Old  Testament.  There  are  two  ques- 
tions to  be  settled  in  regard  to  these  writings,  before 
they  can  be  admitted  as  testimony  in  the  case. 
The  first  is — Is  this  term  found  in  these  writings  ? 
If  so,  were  they  written  about  the  time  or  before 
the  days  of  our  Saviour  ?  If  both  these  questions 
are  answered   in   the   affirmative,  and  it  occurs  in 

*  It  may  here  be  remarked,  that  the  Targums  are  trans- 
lations of  the  Old  Testament  into  Chaldee,  though  they 
are,  in  fact,  in  many  instances,  mere  paraphrases  of  the 
original.  The  word  Targum  means  translation.  Horn's 
Intro.,  Vol.  2,  p.  157.  Phil.  1831.  The  Talmuds  are  a 
collection  of  Jewish  traditions,  called  the  Mishna,  to  which 
are  attached  comments,  called  the  Gemara,  for  their  elucida- 
tion. Prideaux's  Connexions,  Vol.  J.  p.  269.  Baltimore, 
1833. 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  203 

such  a  sense,  then  the  witness  is  competent  to  tes- 
tify in  the  case;  and  if  unequivocal,  it  must  settle 
the  question ;  but  if  not,  the  testimony  cannot  be 
accepted.  It  must  be  rejected  as  inapposite  to  the 
case. 

That  the  word  occurs  in  the  Targums  and  Tal- 
muds,  I  believe  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  and  the 
question  is, — When  were  they  written?  Do  they 
belong  to  a  period  about  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  or 
not  ?  The  whole  matter  depends  upon  the  answer  to 
this  question.  Is  it  certain,  then,  that  these  writings 
were  composed  before  or  about  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era  ?  I  answer,  no.  Their  dale  is 
extremely  uncertain,  as  an  appeal  to  the  statements 
of  the  critics  will  show. 

The  oldest  of  these  writings  in  which  the  term 
Gehenna  occurs,  in  the  sense  of  a  place  of  future 
punishment,  is  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  Ben  Uzziel, 
where  it  is  said  to  occur  several  times  in  this  sense. 
To  what  age  does  this  book  belong  ?  "  Most  of  the 
eminent  critics  now  agree,  that  it  could  not  have 
been  completed  till  some  time  between  two  and  four 
hundred  years  after  Christ."^  "  Neither  the  lan- 
guage nor  the  method  of  interpretation  is  the  same 
in  all  the  books.  In  the  historical  works,  the  text 
is  translated  with  greater  accuracy  than  elsewhere ; 
in  some  of  the  prophets,  as  in  Zechariah,  the  inter- 
pretation has  more  of  the  Rabbinical  and  Talmudical 

*  Univ.  Expos.,  Vol.  2,  p.  368. 


204  universalist's  assistant. 

character.  From  this  variety  we  may  properly  in- 
fer, that  the  work  is  a  collection  of  interpretations 
of  several  learned  men,  made  toward  the  close  of 
the  third  century,  and  containing  some  of  a  much 
older  date  ;  for  that  some  parts  of  it  existed  as  early 
as  in  the  second  century,  appears  from  the  additions 
which  have  been  transferred  from  some  Chaldee 
paraphrase  into  the  Hebrew  text,  and  were  already 
in  the  text  in  the  second  century.'"^  Others  have 
assigned  its  date  to  the  third,  fourth,  and  even  as 
late  as  the  eighth  century. t 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  date  of  this  book  is 
exceedingly  uncertain,  and  that  all  that  can  be 
adduced  to  establish  this  point,  is  Httle  better  than 
mere  conjecture.  Now  a  book,  the  date  of  which  is 
so  extremely  uncertain  as  this  is,  cannot  be  very 
good  evidence  of  the  usage  of  a  word  at  a  specific 
time,  in  the  absence  of  all  other  testimony. 
Especially  is  this  the  case,  when  we  know  a  very 
great  change  took  place  in  the  opinions  and  phrase- 
ology of  the  Jews,  between  that  period  and  the 
earliest  date  assigned  this  book  by  any  sober  and 
judicious  critic. t     It  has  been  well  said,  that  "  from 

*  Jahn's  Intro,  to  the  0.  T.,  p.  60.  Home's  Intro.,  Vol.  2, 
p.  160. 

t  Univ.  Expos.,  Vol.  2,  p.  368. 

i  Perhaps  an  exception  should  be  made  of  Gesenius,  who 
maintains  the  higher  antiquity  of  this  work ;  but  his  views 
are  not  adopted  by  the  more  recent  German  critics.  They 
still  adhere  to  the  opinion  of  its  later  date. 


THE    WORD   GEHENNA. 

the  time  of  Josephus  onwards,  there  is  an  interval  of 
about  a  century,  from  which  no  Jewish  writings 
have  descended  to  us.  This  was  a  period  of  dread- 
ful change  and  ruin  with  that  distracted  people. 
Their  body  politic  was  dissolved ;  the  whole  system 
of  their  ceremonial  religion  had  been  crushed  in  the 
fall  of  their  city  and  temple ;  and  they  themselves, 
scattered  abroad,  were  accursed  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth.  In  these  circumstances,  it  was  natural  that 
their  sentiments  and  usages  should  undergo  a  rapid 
modification  ;  and  if  we  may  judge  from  the  state 
in  which  we  find  their  doctrine,  when  their  own 
compositions  again  appear  in  view,  they  adopted 
almost  every  conceit,  provided  it  were  sufficiently 
extravagant  and  ridiculous,  that  ever  crossed  the 
brain  of  a  mad-man. ""^ 

In  regard  to  the  Talmuds,  they  are  no  better  au- 
thority in  the  case,  than  the  Targums.  They  are 
assigned  to  no  earlier  a  period  than  the  second  cen- 
tury. There  are  two  of  these  works,  the  Jerusalem 
Talmud  and  the  Babylonish.  "  The  former  was 
completed  about  the  year  of  our  Lord  three  hundred ; 
and  the  latter  was  published  about  two  hundred 
years  after,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century."! 
So  far  as  the  apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  concerned,  the  term  Gehenna  is  not  to  be 

*  XJniversalist  Expos.,  Vol.  2.,  p.  366. 
fPrideaux's  Connexions,  Vol.  1,  p.  269.     Home's  Intro., 
Vol.  2,  p.  296—297. 

18 


206  universalist's  assistant. 

found  in  them,  notwithstanding  they  have  so  often 
been  appealed  to  as  affording  testimony  in  the 
case.^ 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  there  is  an  entire  ab- 
sence of  decided  and  unequivocal  testimony,  aside 
from  the  New  Testament,  to  show  that  Gehenna, 
in  the  times  of  our  Saviour,  was  the  name  of  a 
place  of  endless  punishment.  The  case  may  be 
stated  in  this  way.  Before  his  day,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  written  in  Hebrew,  where  the  word  had 
its  origin.  The  Septuagint  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  made  some  two  Inmdred  years  be- 
fore his  birth,  where  the  word  is  found,  with  some 
variation  of  spelling.  In  both  of  these  works 
Gehenna  is  never  used  as  the  name  of  a  place  of 
punishment  in  the  future  world.  Cotemporary,  or 
nearly  so,  with  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  was  Philo 
Judseus,  in  whose  writings,  now  extant,  the  word  is 
not  to  be  found.  Immediately  aftQr  Christ,  Josephus 
composed  his  works ;  and  although  he  treats  par- 

*  I  hardly  know  how  to  explain  this  circumstance  ;  for  the 
statement  has  been  made  by  men  who  had  both  the  learn- 
ing and  the  means  of  knowing  better.  One  thing  is  certain, 
and  that  is,  tharsuch  men  have  no  apology  that  can  justify 
such  a  misstatement  to  common  readers,  who  have  not  the 
means  of  detecting  it.  In  the  Apocrypha  the  word  hell  oc- 
curs in  the  following  places,  and  is  a  rendering  of  Hades, 
instead  of  Gehenna,  as  I  can  testify  from  a  personal  exami- 
nation. Tobit,  13  :  2  ;  Wisdom,  16  :  13  ;  17  :  14  ;  (13  of  the 
Sep. ;)  Eccles.  21  :  10  ;  51  :  5,  6 ;  Dan.  3  :  60.  It  occurs  also 
in  2  Esd.  2  :  29  ;  4  :  9  ;  8  :  53  ;  but  as  this  book  exists  only 
in  the  Latin,  it  is  no  authority  in  the  case. 


THE    WORD   GEHENNA.  207 

ticularly  of  the  different  sects  among  the  Jews,  and 
gives  a  very  full  description  of  their  doctrines,  he 
never  used  the  term.  Now  had  Gehenna,  in  his 
time,  been  used  by  the  Jews  as  the  name  of  the 
place  of  endless  punishment,  in  which  the  Pharisees 
believed,  is  .it  supposable,  that  he  would  not  have 
used  it,  in  describing  their  opinions  ? 

Beside  all  this,  the  ideas  of  the  Jews,  as  exhibited 
in  the  writings  of  the  Apocrypha,  Philo  and  Jose- 
phus,  in  reference  to  punishment,  were  such  that 
they  could  not  have  used  Gehenna  as  the  nam.e  of 
the  place  in  which  it  was  to  be  inflicted,  in  the 
future  world.  "  If  we  misjudge  not,  both  the  Apoc- 
rypha, and  the  works  of  Philo,  when  compared  to- 
gether, afford  circumstantial  evidence  that  the  word 
cannot  have  been  currently  employed,  during  their 
age,  to  denote  a  place  of  future  torment.  .  .  .  From 
the  few  traces  which  remain  to  us  of  this  age,  it 
seems  that  the  idea  of  future  punishment,  such  as  it 
was  among  the  Jews,  was  associated  with  that  of 
darkness,  and  not  of  fire  ;  and  that  among  those  of 
Palestine,  the  misery  of  the  wicked  was  supposed  to 
consist  rather  in  privation,  than  in  positive  inflic- 
tion. .  .  .  But  we  cannot  discover,  in  Josephus, 
that  either  of  these  sects,"  the  Pharisees  or  the  Es- 
senes,  both  of  which  believed  the  doctrine  of  endless 
misery,  "  supposed  it  to  be  a  state  of  fire,  or  that  the 
Jews  ever  alluded  to  it  by  that  emblem.  In  addi- 
tion, therefore,  to  the  absence  of  all  proof  that  they 


288  universalist's  assistant. 

had  as  yet  named  it  Gehenna,  we  find  their  notions 
of  it  to  have  been  such  as  would  not  comport  with 
the  term,  in  its  later  usage. '"^ 

Such  are  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  how  they  can 
be  reconciled  with  the  position,  that  Gehenna,  in  our 
Saviour's  day,  had  come  to  signify  a  place  of  punish- 
ment, in  the  world  of  spirits,  I  cannot  see.  They 
present  the  strongest  kind  of  negative  proof  that  the 
word  then  had  attained  no  such  signification.  At 
any  rate,  no  direct  evidence  has  yet  been  adduced, 
and  I  believe  none  can  be,  aside  from  the  New 
Testament,  of  its  ever  being  used  in  such  a  sense 
at  that  time.  This  is  fatal  to  the  a  'priori  argu- 
ment, that  it  bears  this  meaning  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  throws  the  whole  matter  upon  the  New 
Testament  itself. 


SECTION    II. THE    DERIVATION    OF    GEHENNA. 

"  It  is  originally  a  compound  of  the  two  Hebrew 
words  ge  hinnom,\  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  a  place 
near  Jerusalem,  of  which  we  hear  first  in  the  book  of 
Joshua. I  It  was  there  that  the  cruel  sacrifices  of  chil- 
dren were  made  by  fire  to  Moloch,  the  Ammonitish 
idol.§     The  place  was  also  called  Tophet,i!  and  that, 

*  Univ.  Expos.,  Vol.  2,  pp.  361—366.        f  ^'^'1    ^\ 

X  Josh.  15  :  8  ;  18  :  6.  ^  2  Chron.  33  :  6.  ||  2  Kings  23  :  10. 


THE    WORD    GEHENxNA.  209 

as  is  supposed,  from  the  noise  of  drums,  (Toph 
signifies  a  drum,)  a  noise  raised  on  purpose  to 
drown  the  cries  of  the  helpless  infants."^ 

"  The  word  Gehenna  is  derived,  as  all  agree, 
from  the  Hebrew  words  ge  hinnom;  which,  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  passing  into  other  languages,  assumed 
diverse  forms;  e.  g.  Chaldee  Geheniiom,  Arabic 
Gahannam,  Greek  Gehenna.  The  valley  of  Hin- 
nom is  a  part  of  the  pleasant  wadi  or  valley,  which 
bounds  Jerusalem  on  the  south. t  Here,  in  ancient 
times,  and  under  some  of  the  idolatrous  kings,  the 
worship  of  Moloch,  the  horrid  idol-god  of  the  Am- 
monites, was  practised.  To  this  idol,  children  were 
offered  in  sacrifice. I  If  we  may  credit  the  Rab- 
bins, the  head  of  the  idol  was  like  that  of  an  ox ; 
while  the  rest  of  the  body  resembled  that  of  a  man. 
It  was  hollow  within ;  and  being  heated  by  fire, 
children  were  laid  in  its  arms  and  were  literally 
roasted  alive.  We  cannot  wonder,  then,  at  the  se- 
vere terms  in  which  the  worship  of  Moloch  is  every- 
where denounced  in  the  Scriptures.  Nor  can  we 
wonder  that  the  place  itself  should  have  been  called 
Tophet,  i.  e.  abomination,  detestation,  (from  toph,  to 
vo?nit  with  loathing.)^ 

"  After  these  sacrifices  had  ceased,  the  place  was 

*  Campbell's  Four  Gospels,  Diss.  6,  Ft.  2,  *^  1. 
t  Josh.  15  :  8  ;  18  :  6. 

1 2  Kings  23  :  10  ;  Ezek.  23  :  37,  39  :  2  Chron.  28  :  3  :  Lev. 
18:  21;  20:  2. 
^  Jer.  31 :  32 ;  19 :  6  ;  2  Kings  23  :  10  ;  Ezelc.  23  :  37,  39. 


210.  universalist's  assistant. 

desecrated,  and  made  one  of  loathing  and  horror. 
The  pious  king  Josiah  caused  it  to  be  polluted,  i.  e. 
he  caused  to  be  carried  there  the  filth  of  the  city  of 
Jerusalem.  It  would  seem  that  the  custom  of  dese- 
crating this  place,  thus  happily  begun,  was  con- 
tinued in  after  ages,  down  to  the  period  when  our 
Saviour  was  on  earth.  Perpetual  fires  were  kept 
up,  in  order  to  consume  the  offal  which  was  depos- 
ited there.  And  as  the  same  offal  would  breed 
worms,  (for  so  all  putrefying  meat  does  of  course,) 
hence  came  the  expression,  *  Where  the  worm  dieth 
not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.'^ 

"  Gehenna,  originally  a  Hebrew  word,  which 
signifies  the  valley  of  Hinnom^  is  composed  of  the 
common  noun.  Gee,  valley,  and  the  proper  name 
Hinnom,  the  owner  of  this  valley.  The  valley  of 
the  sons  of  Hinnom  was  a  delightful  vale,  planted 
with  trees,  watered  by  fountains,  and  lying  near 
Jerusalem  on  the  south-east,  by  the  brook  Kidron. 
Here  the  Jews  placed  that  brazen  image  of  Moloch, 
which  had  the  face  of  a  calf,  and  extended  its  hands 
as  those  of  a  man.  It  is  said,  on  the  authority  of  the 
ancient  Rabbins,  that,  to  this  image,  the  idolatrous 
Jews  were  wont  not  only  to  sacrifice  doves,  pigeons, 
lambs,  rams,  calves  and  bulls,  but  even  to  offer  their 
children.!  In  the  prophecy  of  Jeremiah, t  this  val- 
ley is  called   Tophet,  from  Toph,  a  drum ;  because 

*  Stuart's  Exegetical  Ess.,  p.  140—141. 

1 1  Kings  9  :  7  ;  2  Kings  15  :  3,  4.       t  Ch.  7:31. 


THE    WORD   GEHENNA.  211 

the  administrators  in  these  horrible  rites,  beat  drums> 
lest  the  cries  and  shrieks  of  the  infants  who  were 
burned,  should  be  heard  by  the  assembly.  At 
length,  these  nefarious  practices  were  abolished  by 
Josiah,  and  the  Jews  brought  back  to  the  pure  wor- 
ship of  God.^  After  this,  they  held  the  place  in 
such  abomination,  it  is  said,  that  they  cast  into  it  all 
kinds  of  filth,  together  with  the  carcasses  of  beasts, 
and  the  unburied  bodies  of  criminals  who  had  been 
executed.  Continual  fires  were  necessary,  in  order 
to  consume  these,  lest  the  putrefaction  should  infect 
the  air ;  and  there  were  always  worms  feeding  on 
the  remaining  relics.  Hence  it  came,  that  any  se- 
vere punishment  especially  a  shameful  kind  of  death, 
was  denominated  Gehenna."! 

Such  is  the  undisputed  derivation  of  this  word, 
and  such  its  literal  meaning.  And  even  Prof.  Stu- 
art admits,  that  "  the  word  Gehenna,  when  used  in 
respect  to  a  place  of  punishment,  may  be  used,  or 
might  have  been  used,  literally.''  And  the  ques- 
tion now  is,  "  whether  it  is  employed  in  its  literal^'' 
or  in  a  "  secondary  and  spiritual  sense,  in  the 
New  Testament. "1:  That  it  is  generally  used  in  a 
literal  sense  in  the  New  Testament,  I  suppose  no 
one  will  pretend.     It  will  doubtless  be  admitted,  on 


*2  Kings  23:  10. 

t  Schleusneri  Lexicon  in  Nov.  Test,  sub  voce  riivvay  as 
quoted  in  the  Univ.  Expos.,  Vol.  2,  pp.  354 — 355. 
t  1  Exeget.  Ess.,  p.  141. 


212  UxNiversalist's  assistant. 

all  hands,  at  the  present  day,  that  it  is  there  used 
generally  in  a  figurative  sense.  It  is  a  figure  of 
something.  This  is  clear  from  the  whole  history 
of  the  word.  If  it  refers  to  future  punishment,  it  is 
not  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  is  to  be  inflicted, 
but  only  a  figure  to  represent  it.  This  being  the 
case,  whether  it  means  any  such  thing,  in  any  par- 
ticular place,  must  be  determined,  not  by  the  force 
and  meaning  of  the  word  itself,  but  by  the  connex- 
ion in  which  it  is  found,  or  the  subject  to  which  it 
is  applied.  So  much  being  admitted,  it  is,  in  effect, 
giving  up  the  word  as  affording  any  evidence,  of 
itself,  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery, 
or  even  of  future  punishment,  however  it  may  be 
in  regard  to  some  of  the  texts  where  it  occurs. 
Whether  it  ever  refers  to  any  such  punishment  in 
the  New  Testament,  can  be  determined  only  by  an 
actual  examination  of  all  the  places  where  it  occurs. 
If  it  is  used  as  a  figurative  representation,  the  ques- 
tion is — Of  what  is  it  a  figure  ?  I  think  it  was 
used  by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  as  a 
figure  of  'punishment  in  general^  particularly  any 
peculiarly  severe  or  odious  punishment,  without 
any  reference  to  the  place  ivhere  inflicted,  or  its 
duration  ;  and  sometimes  for  anything  peculiarly 
odious  and  detestable.  That  such  is  its  meaning, 
will  appear  from  an  examination  of  the  several 
texts  where  it  occurs  in  the  New  Testament. 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  2J& 


SECTION    m. — NEW  TESTAMENT   USAGE    OF   THE    TEEM 
GEHENNA. 

In  the  examination  of  the  texts  which  will  come 
under  consideration,  I  shall  offer  but  little  on  the 
negative  side  of  the  question ;  that  is,  to  show  the 
word  gehenna  does  not  mean  a  place  of  endless 
punishment.  This  has  been  done  very  fully  and 
thoroughly  by  others.^  It  will  be  my  effort,  rather  to 
show  what  the  texts  really  mean^  which  is  the  most 
important  matter ;  and  if  this  is  truly  represented, 
those  interpretations  which  make  them  teach  the 
doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  must  of  necessity 
be  false.  My  work,  therefore,  will  be  coiistructive, 
rather  than  destructive ;  affirmative  rather  than 
negative.  In  the  execution  of  this  work,  I  shall 
not  go  into  any  lengthy  arguments  to  sustain  the 
explanations  that  may  be  given.  I  shall  aim  to 
state  my  views  of  the  texts  that  may  come  under 
review,  as  concisely  as  possible,  without  going  at 
length  into  the  reasons  therefor.  I  pursue  this 
course  because  I  think  it  will  convey  a  clearer  and 
more  distinct  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  texts, 
to  the  minds  of  most  readers,  and  be  quite  as  satis- 
factory as  a  more  elaborate  method.     I  shall  refer 


*  See  particularly  Balfour's  First  Inquiry,  which  pre- 
sents about  all  that  can  be  said  on  the  negative  side  of  this 
question. 


214  universalist's  assistant. 

to  such  authorities  as  may  be  at  hand,  in  confirma- 
tion of  my  positions,  so  as  to  enable  those  who  may 
be  disposed,  to  pursue  the  inquiry  still  farther. 

The  word  Gehenna  occurs  in  the  New  Testament 
just  twelve  times.  Five"^  of  these  are  parallel  with 
other  texts,  which  reduces  the  instances  of  its  use  to 
seven  in  number.  These  will  now  be  examined  in 
the  chronological  order  in  which  they  were  uttered, 
according  to  the  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  by  Dr. 
L.  Carpenter. 

1.  Matt.  5  :  22.  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  is 
angry  with  his  brother,  without  a  cause,  shall  be  in  danger 
of  the  judgment ;  and  whosoever  shall  say  to  his  brother 
Raca,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  council ;  but  whosoever 
shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall  be  in  danger  of  hen-Jire."-f 

Upon  the  word  Gehenna,  in  this  text,  Mr.  Barnes 
says, — "  In  this  verse  it  denotes  a  degree  of  suffer- 
ing higher  than  the  punishment  inflicted  by  the 
court  of  seven,  or  the  sanhedrim.  And  the  whole 
verse  may  therefore  mean.  He  that  hates  his  brother 
without  a  cause,  is  guilty  of  a  violation  of  the  sixth 
commandment,  and  shall  be  punished  with  a  sever- 
ity similar  to  that  inflicted  by  the  coitrt  of  judg- 
ment.    He  that  shall  suffer  his  passions  to  trans- 

*  Matt.  5  :  30.  Mark  9  :  43  and  45.  Luke  12  :  5.  Matt. 
18:  9. 

t  tvo/oq  hoxai  tig  tt,v  y^f^'^'ecv  rov  nvQog,  shall  be  ohioxious 
to  the  gehoma  of  fire. — Campbell's  note  in  loco.  "  To  be  in 
danger  of  evil  of  any  kind,  is  one  thing  ;  to  be  obnoxious  to 
it,  is  another.  The  most  innocent  person  may  be  in  danger 
of  death,  it  is  the  guilty  only  who  are  obnoxious  to  it." 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  215 

port  him  to  still  greater  extravagances,  and  shall 
make  him  an  object  of  derision  and  contempt,  shall 
be  exposed  to  still  severer  punishment,  correspond- 
ing to  that  which  the  sanhedrim,  or  council,  inflicts. 
But  he  who  shall  load  his  brother  with  odious  ap- 
pellations and  abusive  language,  shall  incur  the 
severest  degree  of  punishment,  represented  by  being 
burnt  alive  in  the  horrid  and  awful  valley  of  Hin- 


nom. 


"^ 


"  Three  degrees  of  anger  are  specified,  and  three 
corresponding  gradations  of  punishment,  propor- 
tioned to  the  different  degrees  of  guilt.  Where 
these  punishments  will  be  inflicted,  he  does  not  say, 
he  need  not  say.  The  man,  who  indulges  any 
wicked  feelings  against  his  brother  man,  is  in  this 
world  punished  ;  his  anger  is  the  torture  of  his  soul, 
and  unless  he  repents  of  it  and  forsakes  it,  it  must 
prove  his  woe  in  all  future  states  of  his  being."! 

The  antithesis,  in  this  passage,  lies  between  the 
material  views  of  the  Jews,  who  regarded  men's 
overt  acts  of  wronsf,  only  as  subjecting  them  to  the 


*  Note  in  loco. 

t  Livermore's  Com.  in  loco  ;  also  Dr.  A.  Clarke,  Bloom- 
field,  Kenrick  and  Paige  in  loco.  Dr.  Clarke,  Kenrick  and 
Paige  seem  to  regard  the  whole  in  a  strictl}'-  literal  sense, 
rather  than  figurative  ;  while  Bloomfield,  Barnes  and  Liver- 
more  seem  to  think  the  council,  sanhedrim  and  gehenna 
mere  figures  ;  Mr.  B.  and  Dr.  Bloomfield  of  future  pun- 
ishment only,  and  Mr.  Liv^ermore  of  punishment  in  general, 
without  any  reference  to  the  place  where  inflicted,  or  the  time 
when,  or  its  duration. 


216  universalist's  assistant. 

retributions  of  the  Almighty,  and  the  more  spiritual 
views  of  Jesas,  who  maintained  that  the  thoughts, 
feehngs,  desires  and  purposes  of  the  individual, 
though  never  carried  out  in  action,  exposed  him 
equally  to  punishment,  with  overt  acts."^  And  in 
my  view,  he  did  not  refer  to  these  several  kinds  of 
death  inflicted  by  the  Jews,  as  the  penalties  to  be 
suffered  for  these  sins  ;  or  to  these  tribunals  as  tak- 
ing cognizance  of  these  offences.  They  are  referred 
to  only  as  an  illustration  of  the  principle  upon 
which  God  would  deal  with  men  for  their  evil  and 
malicious  thoughts,  feelings,  desires  and  purposes. 
What  he  means  to  say  is,  that  according  to  his 
religion,  punishment  would  be  inflicted  upon  men 
for  these  things,  as  well  as  for  their  overt  acts  ;  and 
that,  as  in  these,  it  would  be  severe,  in  proportion 
to  their  malignity,  and  the  evil  they  were  calculated 
to  produce.! 

2.  Matt.  5  :  29—30.  "  And  if  thy  right  eye  offendij:  thee, 
pluck  it  out  and  cast  it  from  thee  ;  for  it  is  profitable  for 
thee,  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish,  and  not  that 
thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell.^  And  if  thy  right 
hand  offend^  thee,  cut  it  off,  and  cast  it  from  thee,  for 
it  is  profitable  for  thee,  that  one  of  thy  members  shouhf 
perish,  and  not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  heU.'^<^ 

*  Matt.  5  :  28  ;  15  :  19.     t  Univ.  Miscel.,  vol.  2,  p.  184—6. 

I  •'  We  have  no  single  word  to  express  the  import  of 
oxavdaJL'iLO),  which  is  peculiar  to  ecclesiastical  Greek.  It 
denotes  to  cause  to  fall,  either  from  duty  or  allegiance. 
The  noun  axuv^u7.ov,  denotes  the  cause  of  sin  or  desertion, 
— a  stumbling-block.     Dr.  L.  Carpenter's  ^Note  in  loco. 

^  xal  nt'j  oXov  TO  ou)^ia  oov  (iXri-<Jij  tig  yetVvui',  and  not  thy 
whole  body  should  be  thrust  into  gehenna. 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  217 

The  duty  enjoined  in  this  text  is  ;  "  Deny  thyself 
what  is  even  the  most  desirable  and  alluring,  and 
seems  the  most  necessary,  when  the  sacrifice  is 
demanded  by  the  good  of  thy  soul.  Some  think 
that  there  is  an  allusion  to  the  amputation  of  dis- 
eased members  of  the  body,  to  prevent  the  spread 
of  any  disorder.'"^  This,  I  apprehend,  is  the  true 
idea.  When  a  mortal  disease  seizes  upon  some 
one  of  the  limbs,  it  becomes  necessary  to  have  that 
limb  removed,  to  prevent  the  infection  from  spread- 
ing through  the  whole  bodj^  and  filling,  it  with  dis- 
ease and  torture,  and  ultimately  reducing  it  to  a 
mass  of  loathsome  corruption  ;  so  when  any  evil 
passion  springs  up  in  the  soul,  and  is  leading  the 
individual  into  sin,  he  must  expel  it  from  him,  or, 
like  a  plague,  it  will  spread  through  his  whole  moral 
constitution,  filling  it  with  disease,  putrefaction  and 
torment,  and  making  it  as  odious  and  abominable, 
as  the  valley  of  Hinnom, — a  fate  as'  dreadful,  in  a 
moral  point  of  view,  as  to  suffer  capital  punishment, 
by  being  burned  ahve  in  this  loathsome  and  detest- 
able place  ;  or  being  executed,  and  then  having  the 
body  thrown  into  this  receptacle  of  filth,  to  putrefy 
and  be  consumed  by  the  fire  and  worms  with  the 
rest  of  the  offal  of  the  city. 

Hence  it  is  said, — "  As  it  would  be  better  to  lose 
a  limb,  than  to  ha^'e  the  whole  bod)-  become  diseased 

*  Bloomfield's  Note  in  loco. 
19 


21S  universalist's  assistant. 

and  putrid,  and  finally  cast  into  the  valley  of  Hin- 
nom,  the  place  of  abomination, — the  deepest  disgrace 
of  which  a  Jew  could  conceive, — so  it  would  be 
better  to  crush  and  destroy  any  passion,  however 
painful  the  struggle,  than  to  have  the  whole  moral 
system  become  infected,  and  to  incur  the  disgrace 
and  punishment  which  might  well  be  called  the 
worm  and  fire  of  Gehenna.''''^ 

"  The  main  idea  here  conveyed,  is  that  of  punish- 
ment, extreme  suffering,  and  no  intimation  is  given 
as  to  its  place,  or  its  duration,  whatever  may  be 
said  in  other  texts  in  relation  to  these  points. 
Wickedness  is  its  own  hell.  A  wronged  conscience, 
awakened  to  remorse,  is  more  terrible  than  fire  or 
worm.  In  this  life  and  in  the  next,  sin  and  woe 
are  forever  coupled  together.  God  has  joined  them, 
and  man  cannot  put  them  asunder."! 

3.  Man.  10:  28  ''But  fear  not  them  which  kill  the 
body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul ;  but  rather  fear  him 
which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hdl^X  Luke 
12:  4,5. 

The  most  natural  construction  of  this  text  seems 

to  be  this, — Be  not  afraid  of  men,  who,  when  they 

exert  their  utmost  power,  can  only  kill  the  body, 

but  cannot  touch  the  soul.     They  may  destroy  the 

natural   life,  the   temporary  dwelling-place  of  the 

soul :  but  this  is  a  small  matter.     It  will  not  inter- 


*  Paige's  Com.  in  loco.  |  Livermore's  Com.  in  loco 

%  iv  ytivvti,  in  Gehenna. 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  219 

rupt  the  bliss  of  the  soul.  Not  even  this  can  be 
affected  without  your  consent ;  much  less  its  exist- 
ence. Both  are  beyond  their  reach.  They  may 
destroy  the  body  by  the  punishments  inflicted  in 
that  loathsome  and  abhorred  place,  called  Gehenna  ; 
but  this  will  do  you  no  harm  as  moral  beings. 
Therefore,  be  not  afraid  of  them,  seeing  they  can 
do  so  little,  even  when  they  do  their  worst.  But  I 
tell  you  rather  to  fear  God,  who  has  far  greater 
power ;  who  is  able  utterly  to  annihilate  both  body 
and  soul,  your  whole  being,  in  some  manner  equally 
horrible  with  having  your  body  consumed  in  the 
valley  of  Hinnom. 

It  appears  to  me,  that  the  point  of  contrast  be- 
tween men  and  God,  is  in  reference  to  their  'power. 
The  power  of  men  can  accomplish  but  little,  even 
when  exerted  to  its  utmost.  It  can  reach  only  to 
the  temporary  dwelling-place  of  the  soul,  which 
must,  sooner  or  later,  fall  to  decay,  if  left  to  the 
operation  of  natural  laws.  But  God's  power  is  so 
great,  that  he  can  not  only  do  what  men  may  per- 
form, but  much  more.  While  men  can  destroy  the 
habitation  only,  God  can  destroy  both  the  habitation 
and  the  inhabitant^  without  implying  that  either 
will  be  done.  It  is  a  simple  contrast  of  the  abilities 
of  the  parties. 

This  view  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case.  Jesus  was  giving  his  disciples 
directions  concerning  the  promulgation  of  his  reli- 


UNIVEKSALIST  S    ASSISTANT. 

gion.  He  and  they  knew,  that,  in  the  prosecution 
of  this  work,  they  should  not  only  suffer  all  man- 
ner of  privations,  but  be  exposed  to  physical  death 
by  the  hands  of  their  fellow-men,  on  account  of  their 
labors  and  efforts.  And  it  is  his  object  to  guard 
their  minds  against  such  a  fear  of  men,  as  would 
lead  them  to  swerve  from  duty,  clothed  in  as  much 
power  as  they  might  be,  by  contrasting  their  highest 
power  with  that  of  God.  It  is  a  mere  contrasting 
of  the  ability  of  God  and  men,  not  their  dispositions, 
or  what  they  will  actually  do.  It  is  saying  to 
them,  that  if  there  was  reason  to  fear  men  on 
account  of  their  powers  they  had  much  greater  rea- 
son to  fear  God — as  much  greater  reason  as  his 
power  is  greater  than  theirs;  that  if  they  felt  any 
shrinking  from  the  performance  of  their  duties,  for 
fear  of  the  evils  men  could  bring  upon  their  bodies, 
they  should  remember  that  God,  who  will  in  no 
wise  clear  the  guilty,  is  able  to  do  far  more — to 
destroy  or  annihilate  the  soul  as  well  as  the  body — 
not  implying,  by  any  means,  that  God  would  anni- 
hilate their  whole  being,  even  should  they  prove 
recreant  to  their  trust,  through  fear  of  men.  It 
affirms  nothing  as  to  what  would  be  their  punish- 
ment in  such  an  event;  but  simply  implies  that 
they  would  render  themselves  obnoxious  to  a  pun- 
ishment proportionate  to  their  guilt. 

That  Gehenna,  in  this  text,  cannot  mean  a  place 
of  punishment  in  another  world,  is  manifest  from 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  221 

the  fact,  that  the  exhortation  is  addressed  particu- 
larly to  the  disciples,  who,  if  the  common  views  are 
correct,  were  in  no  sort  of  danger  of  such  a  punish- 
ment. And  even  if  it  did  refer  to  such  a  place,  it 
would  afford  no  evidence  in  favor  of  the  doctrine 
of  eternal  punishment;  for  it  says  not  a  word  about 
their  being  punished  there ;  but  that  their  whole 
being  viaij  be  destroyed  in  that  place.  Upon  this 
supposition,  it  proves  annihilation,  if  it  proves  any- 
thing.=^ 

"  That  it  was  the  design  of  Christ,  to  lead 
his  disciples  to  reverence  the  surpassing  power  of 
God,  which  he  thus  illustrated,  and  not  to  make 
them  fear  an  actual  destruction  of  their  souls  and 
bodies  in  Gehenna,  seems  evident  from  the  words 
that  immediately  follow.  For  he  proceeds  to  show 
them  that  that  power  Avas  constantly  exerted  in 
their  behalf — not  against  them.  See  the  following 
verses. "t 

*  I  am  aware,  that  the  idea  commonly  attached  to  the 
words  kill  and  destroy  in  this  text,  is  to  torture  or  torment. 
But  this  is  an  idea  which  is  no  more  naturall)'  expressed  by 
the  original  words  aTioynlrv),  rendered  to  kill,  in  the  first 
clause,  and  ano).Xviu,  translated  to  destroy,  in  the  last  clause, 
than  it  is  by  these  English  words.  To  torture  or  torment  is 
by  no  means  the  usual  signification  of  these  words ;  and  I 
doubt  whether  they  ever  occur  in  this  unusual  sense  in  the 
New  Testament,  though  they  are  of  very  frequent  occur- 
rence;  un.oy.xiUv.t  occurring  in  seventy-five  instances,  and 
(xJiolXvui,  in  eighty-five  cases.  Univ.  Expos.,  Vol.  4,  pp. 
166,  167.  Mr.  Doiinegan  defines  aTio/Ai-uj,  primarily,  '<?o 
destroy  utterly.-^ 

f  Univ.  Expos.,  Vol,  4,  p,  169.     Paige's  Com.  irX  loco. 
19=^ 


222  universalist's  assistant. 

4.  Matt.  18  :  8,  9.  ''Wherefore,  if  thy  hand  or  thy  foot 
offend*  thee,  cut  them  off,  and  cast  them  from  thee ;  it  is 
better  for  thee  to  enter  into  Hfe  halt  or  maimed,  rather  than 
having  two  hands  or  two  feet,  to  be  cast  into  everlasting 
fire.-\  And  if  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out,  and  cast  it 
from  thee ;  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  with  one 
eye,  rather  than  having  two  eyes,  to  be  cast  into  hellJireJ^X 

Tlie  parallel  passage  in  Mark  is  recorded  in 
phraseology  somewhat  different;  and  as  both  evi- 
dently mean  the  same  thing,  and  are  used  to  repre- 
sent the  same  conversation  of  our  Lord,  they  will 
naturally  aid  in  explaining  the  peculiar  phraseology 
of  each.  I  will,  therefore,  quote  this  passage,  that 
the  reader  may  have  both  before  him  at  once. 

Mark  9  :  43—48.  "  And  if  thy  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off; 
it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  maimed,  than  to  have 
two  hands  to  go  into  hell,  into  the.  fire,  that  never  shall  be 
quenched^^  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  their  fire  is  not 
quenched.\\  And  if  thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  it  off;  it  is  better 
for  thee  to  enter  halt  into  life,  than  having  two  feet,  to  be 
cast  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched  ;^  where 
their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  qi(e?iched.\\  And  if 
thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out ;  it  is  better  for  thee  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  with  one  eye,  than  having 
two  eyes,  to  be  cast  into  hell  fire  ;^  where  their  worm  dieth 
not,  and  their  fire  is  not  quenched.' '\\ 

The  general  sentiment  of  these  texts  is  the  same 
as   in  one    before    noticed  ;    but   they    are    distin- 

*  See  note  on  page  216,  of  this  work, 
t  etc  r!>  nvQ  to  aiwrior,  into  the  fire  the  everlasting. 
X  tig  r},v  yffirar  rov  nvQi'jg,  into  the  Gehenna  of  fire. 
^  elg  ri,v  ythvav,  sic  ro  nvQ  to  ao(itarov,  into  the  Gehenna, 
into  the  fire  unquenchable. 

II  «al  ro  nvq  ov  a^irwrai,  n?id  the  fi.re  not  to  he  extinguished. 
^  ««'§  ri^v  yteirav  xov  nvQoc,  into  the  Gehenna  of  fire. 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  223 

guished  by  somewhat  peculiar  phraseology,  espe- 
cially this  last.  Still  the  whole  of  it  is  derived 
from  what  was  literally  true  of  the  valley  of  Hin- 
nom,  after  its  desecration.  Perpetual  fires  were 
kept  there,  and  it  swarmed  with  worms  as  we  have 
seen."^  This  fire  is  called  everlasting,  not  because 
it  is  absolutely  endless  in  duration  ;  but  to  represent 
its  uninterrupted  character.  For  the  word  ren- 
dered everlasting,  as  we  have  seen,t  has  more  the 
sense  of  uninterrupted,  than  of  endless  duration  ;  a 
duration  in  which  there  is  no  hreali  or  interruption 
so  long  as  it  lasts,  be  that  longer  or  shorter.  This 
was  the  character  of  the  fire  in  Gehenna.  It  was 
continual  and  uninterrupted,  in  consequence  of  the 
constantly  renewed  supply  of  fuel  to  feed  U,  until, 
from  the  want  of  this  supply,  it  became  extinct. 

Although  the  imagery  of  the  last  quoted  text  is 
much  more  terrific  than  in  the  first,  this  very  im- 
agery only  serves  to  confirm  the  view  above  pre- 
sented. The  fire  is  here  called  unquenchable,  with 
particular  allusion  to  what  the  prophet  says  \X  and 
there  are  said  to  be  undying  worms  there.  It  was 
a  fire  that  burned  continually,  and  a  place  that  con- 
tinually swarmed  with  worms,  and  would  do  so  as 
long  as  the  place  maintained  its  characteristics  as 
then  known.     This  view  is  confirmed  by  the   use 

*  See  pag:e  210,  of  this  work,     f  See  p.  152,  of  this  work. 
X  Isaiah  46  :  24,  from  which  these  peculiar  forms  of  ex- 
pression are  taken  almost  literally. 


224  universalist's  assistant. 

of  the  word  rendered  unquenchable,  by  the  prophet, 
alluded  to  above,  and  the  common  usage  of  it  by 
other  writers.  Josephus  uses  it  in  describing  the 
fire  upon  the  altar  in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  and 
so  of  others.^  These  facts  are  added  only  to  pre- 
sent a  stronger  and  more  lively  image  of  the  loath- 
some and  abhorrent  character  of  thai  place ;  and  what 
can  be  more  so,  than  that  of  fomenting  filth,  filled 
with  worms,  in  which  fire  is  smouldering  and  fill- 
ing the  air  with  its  horrid  and  intolerable  stench  ? 
But  these  worms  have  ceased  to  exist,  and  this  fire 
has  been  long  since  exthigidshed. 

Thus  much  for  the  literal  meaning  of  this  text. 
But  are  we  to  take  this  text  in  a  literal  sense? 
Will  apy  one  maintain,  that  our  Lord  meant  to  con- 
trast the  life  his  gospel  is  calculated  to  impart,  and 
the  kingdom  he  came  to  establish,  with  the  literal 
horrors  of  the  valley  of  Hinnom?  I  think  not. 
Every  one,  it  appears  to  me,  must  see,  the  horrors  of 
this  place  are  used  only  as  figures ;  and  the  ques- 
tion at  once  arises — Figures  of  what  ?  I  answer — 
Figures  of  the  consequences  of  sin,  of  neglect  of 
duty,  of  violation  of  God's  law.  And  these  figures 
are  not  used  so  much  to  represent  the  duration  of 
punishment,  as  to  indicate  its  intensity,  and  its  un- 
interrupted, unmitigated,  continuous  character,  so 
long  as  it  lasts,  which  must  be  as  long  as  its  cause 

*  Univ.  Expos.,  Vol.  4,  pp.  106,  107,  where  a  number  of 
examples  are  quoted  from  different  authors. 


THE    WORD   GEHENNA.  22o 

continues ;  i.  e.  sin  in  the  soul.  How  long  this  will 
continue,  in  any  individual  case,  is  a  matter  which 
cannot  be  determined,  until  it  shall  have  transpired, 
as  we  have  already  shown. ^  WTiere  this  fearful 
punishment  will  be  inflicted,  no  intimation  is  given, 
as  none  is  needed;  for  wherever  sin  exists,  there  it 
will  be  punished  ;  because  sin  and  its  misery  are  in- 
separably united,  and  the  latter  will  adhere  to 
every  soul  so  long  as  the  former.  When  the  one 
ceases,  then  will  the  other  also.t 

5.  Matt.  23:  15.  '-"Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees, 
hypocrites  !  for  ye  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  pros- 
elyte ;  and  when  he  is  made,  ye  make  him  two-fold  more 
the  child  of  hell, X  than  yourselves." 

The  word  translated  child,  would  be  more  literally 
rendered  so7i;  and  it  is  used  to  express  a  great  va- 
riety of  relations.  In  this  place  it  means  like,  or  i/t 
resemhlance  of.^  The  scribes  and  Pharisees  were 
abominably  wicked,  malicious  and  persecuting.  So 
vile  and  polluted,  yet  so  hypocritical,  were  they,  as 
to  be  compared  to  whited  sepulchres.  They  were 
so  full  of  all  that  was  corrupt  and  odious,  as  to  be 
the  objects  of  loathing  and  abhorrence  to  every  pure 
and  good  mind  acquainted  with  their  real  characters. 
They  had  a  sufficiently  strong  resemblance  to  that 

*See  pp.  129—133  of  this  work. 

f  Those  who  may  wish  fo^-  a  more  minute  and  particular 
exposition  of  this  text,  are  referred  to  Paige's  Com.  in  loco. 
%  vlov  ysf  )'v»-c,  a  son  of  Gehenna. 
^  Univer>nlist  Expositor.  Vol.  1..  pp.  312 — 316. 


226  universalist's  assistant. 

most  odious  and  abominaHe  of  all  places,  the  valley 
of  Hinnom  ;  but  their  proselytes  were  twice  as  bad, 
— vastly  more  wicked,  odious,  abominable,  mali- 
cious and  persecuting,  than  they  were  themselves  ; 
they  bore  a  more  exact  resemblance  to  Gehenna, 
than  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  did  themselves. 

Hence  it  is  said, — "  It  was  the  complaint  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  that  the  proselytes  were  '  scabs  of 
the  church,'  and  hindered  the  coming  of  the  Mes- 
siah, as  being  ignorant  of  the  law,  and  bringing  in 
revenge.  Justin  Martyr  informs  us  of  them,  that 
these  '  proselytes  did  not  only  disbelieve  Christ's 
doctrine,  but  were  twice  more  blasphemous  against 
him  than  the  Jews  themselves,  endeavoring  to  tor- 
ment and  cut  them  off  wheresoever  they  could,  they 
being  in  this  the  instruments  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees."^ 

6.   Matt.  23  :  33.     ^' Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers, 

how  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell.'^-f 

• 

The  word  rendered  damnation,  in  this  text,  would 
be  more  properly  translated  condemnation  or  punish- 
ment.t  The  meaning  of  this  text  is, — How  can  ye 
escape  from  a  punishment  as  dreadful  as  that  of  be- 
ing burned  alive  in  that  most  execrable  of  all  places, 
the  valley  of  Hinnom  ;  or  how  can  you  escape  from, 

*  Whitby,  Com.  and  Note,  in  Wo. 

t  oiTio  T)jf  xQiasvog  rfjg  Ystvvtjg,  from  the  punishment  of  Ge- 
henna. 

t  Campbell's  Notes  on  Mark  12  :  40  ;  16  :  16  ;  Matt.  23  : 
23  ;  John  5  :  22. 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  227 

or  avoid  the  most  dreadful  punishment  God  sees  fit 
to  inflict  upon  men ;  the  language  denoting,  not  the 
duration,  but  the  intensity  and  severity  of  the 
punishment.  Hence  it  is  said, — "  Gehenna,  or  the 
valley  of  Hinnom,  near  Jerusalem,  where  the  filth 
of  the  city  and  the  bodies  of  malefactors  were 
thrown,  to  be  consumed  by  fire  and  worms.  Hence 
it  was  used  as  a  figure  for  a  keen  and  terrible  punish- 
ment."^ "  The  damnation  of  hell,  or  of  Gehenna; 
which  place  the  Jews  understood  to  indicate  the 
most  acute  misery."!  This  text,  I  apprehend,  is  to 
be  taken  for  punishment  in  general,  without  par- 
ticular reference  to  the  kind,  or  when  or  where 
inflicted,  or  how  long  it  is  to  endure.  This  is  as 
indefinite  and  uncertain  as  the  duration  of  any  indi- 
vidual soul  in  sin.t 

7.  James  3:6.  ''  And  the  tongue  is  a  fire,  a  world  of 
iniquity ;  so  is  the  tongue  among  our  members,  that  it  de- 
fileth  the  whole  body,  and  setteth  on  fire  the  course  of 
nature  ;  and  it  is  set  on  fire  of  hell^X 

The  last  clause  of  this  text,  is  manifestly  figur- 
ative ;  for  no  man,  in  his  senses,  will  maintain,  that 
an  unruly,  or  ungoverned  tongue,  is  literally  set  on 

*  Livermore's  Com,  in  loco. 

t  Paige's  Com.  in  loco,  where  a  somewhat  different  view 
of  the  matter  is  taken.  This  respected  author  thinks  the 
punishment  is  to  be  understood  as  specific,  rather  than 
general. 

Xxai  (f?.oYiLouivr,  vno  riji  yitvvriq^and  being  inflamed  of  the 
Gek€>uia. 


228  universalist's  assistant. 

fire  from  hell,  if  this  word  is  taken  in  its  common 
acceptation.  It  being  a  figure,  the  question  very 
naturally  arises — From  what  is  it  drawn?  From 
Gehenna  taken  in  its  literal  sense,  or  from  a  place 
which  it  is  supposed  to  represent  as  a  symbol? 
From  a  place  well  known  and  most  deeply  abhorred 
by  those  to  whom  the  language  was  addressed,  or  a 
place  which  was  a  mere  ideal  thing,  about  the  very 
existence  of  which  there  was  dispute  among  them  ? 
It  certainly  seems  quite  unnecessary,  to  say  the  least, 
to  resort  to  this  sort  of  compound  figure,  to  express 
an  idea,  which  would  be  more  forcibly  expressed  by 
a  simple  figure,  and  adopting  the  term  Gehenna  in 
its  literal  sense  ;  for  this  would  give  it  all  the  force 
it  could  possibly  have. 

The  simple  meaning,  therefore,  of  this  text,  I  take 
to  be,  that  an  unruly  or  ungoverned  tongue,  not 
only  defiles  and  pollutes  the  whole  man,  in  whom  it 
resides,  and  blackens  everybody  about  him,  by  its 
lies  and  slanders,  but  inflames  society,  and  is  calcu- 
lated to  make  it  as  uncomfortable  to  its  members, 
and  as  loathsome  and  abhorrent  to  all  good  and 
peace-loving  persons,  as  the  filth  and  smoke  of  the 
valley  of  Hinnom  were  to  the  eyes  and  nostrils  of 
those  who  might  enter  it ;  and  that  the  principles 
and  passions  which  move  such  a  tongue,  are  as  vile 
and  polluted,  and  odious  and  offensive  in  the  eyes 


THE    WORD    GEHENNA.  229 

of  the  pure  and  good,  as  was  this  valley  to  the  mmd 
of  a  Jew."^ 

These  are  all  the  instances  where  the  word 
Gehenna  occurs  in  the  New  Testament,  and  such 
are  my  views  of  their  meaning,  which  are  com- 
mended to  the  serious  attention  of  every  reader. 
Of  their  correctness  he  is  left  to  judge,  with  a  full 
assurance  that  they  must  commend  themselves  to 
his  reason  and  common  sense. 

^  See  Whitby  in  loco,  and  Balfour's  First  Inquir)',  p.  194. 
20 


230 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

GENERAL  CONCLUSION. 

In  view  of  what  has  been  presented  in  this 
volume,  it  must  be  manifest  to  all  intelligent  and 
reflecting  minds,  that  the  objections  commonly- 
urged  against  Universalism,  are  either  witho^i 
foundation,  or  utterly  inapposite.  It  must  be  equal- 
ly plain,  that  the  objections  urged  against  this 
doctrine,  from  the  Scriptures,  are,  to  say  the  least, 
very  far  from  being  conclusive  in  the  case.  Indeed, 
I  cannot  see  how  any  person,  with  the  facts  herein 
presented  before  him,  can  regard  the  testimony 
commonly  adduced,  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  end- 
less misery,  from  the  Bible,  as  sufficient  to  warrant 
the  belief  of  so  tremendous  a  doctrine.  I  think  all 
candid  and  fair-minded  men  must  concede,  that  if 
this  fearful  doctrine  is  true,  some  other  and  more 
decisive  testimony  must  be  adduced,  so  far  as  the 
Scriptures  are  concerned,  than  that  which  has  been 
commonly  relied  upon,  for  this  purpose. 

In  attaining  the  position  at  which  I  have  arrived 
in  this  volume,  I  am  aware,  that  the  way  is  only 
fairly  cleared  and  well  laid  open  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  affirmative  testimony,  in  behalf  of  Universal- 


GENKRAL     CONCLUSION.  231 

ism.  No  direct  evidence  has  been  produced  in  behalf 
of  this  idea,  in  what  has  been  said.  This  was  not 
the  design.  Its  aim  has  been  merely  defensive  ;  to 
remove  objections,  that  the  mind  of  the  reader 
might  be  prepared,  fully  to  appreciate  and  feel  the 
force  of  the  arguments  of  others  of  an  affirmative 
character.  Still,  the  position  that  has  been  attain- 
ed, is,  of  itself,  a  presumption  in  favor  of  the  truth 
of  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation.  If  the  doc- 
trine of  the  "  absolute  eternity  "  of  punishment  is 
not  true,  as  we  have  a  right  to  assume,  if  the  evi- 
dence in  its  favor  is  inconclusive,  then  only  one 
of  two  things  can  be  true,  either  annihilation  or 
universal  salvation.  And  if  the  universality  and 
eternity  of  human  existence  is  admitted,  then  uni- 
versal salvation  must  be  the  truth :  for  nothing  else 
can  possibly  be  the  case,  unless  it  can  be  supposed, 
that  the  human  soul  may  be  in  a  state  and  condition 
where  it  neither  enjoys  happiness  nor  suffers  miser3^ 
This,  I  suppose,  no  one  will  m.aintain. 

Still,  I  am  aware,  that  there  is  a  very  serious 
difficulty,  in  the  way  of  many  persons  coming  to 
view  the  matter  in  the  light  presented  in  this  vol- 
ume, from  the  common  apprehensions  about  the 
Scripture  representations  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments. It  has  been  the  practice  so  long,  to  regard 
the  Bible  as  speaking  in  one  place,  exclusively  of 
rewards  and  punishments  in  this  state,  and  in 
another  as  speaking  only  of  future  rewards   and 


232  universalist's  assistant. 

punishments,  that  it  is  exceedingly  difficuk  to  hring 
their  minds  to  right  apprehensions  upon  the  subject, 
plainly  as  it  is  exhibited  upon  the  very  face  of  the 
Scriptures ;  for  nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to 
break  up  old  associations,  when  attached  for  a  long 
time  to  particular  words  and  phrases. 

But  I  apprehend,  however  numerous  the  passages 
of  Scripture,  in  which  the  idea  of  future  rewards  and 
punishments  is  involved,  it  will  be  very  difficult  to 
fix  upon  any  ojte  text,  and  show,  by  fair  argument, 
that  it  is  exclusively  confined  to  this  meaning.  And 
the  same  may  be  said,  if  they  are  attempted  to  be 
restricted  to  this  stats ;  for  what  is  true  of  one  state, 
in  regard  to  the  cause  of  punishment,  is  true  of  the 
other  also. 

The  truth  is,  the  Bible  makes  no  such  distinction 
between  present  and  future  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, as  is  commonly  supposed.  It  does  not  here 
describe  a  reward  to  be  bestowed,  or  a  punishment 
to  be  inflicted  in  this  life  only  ;  and  there,  those  t^ 
he  enjoyed  or  suffered  exclusively  in  a  future  state. 
It  lays  down  the  great  princifple,  that  virtue  and  its 
rewards,  and  vice  and  Us  punishment,  are  insepara- 
bly united ;  that  this  is  a  law  of  God's  moral 
government,  as  eternal  and  immutable  as  that  gov- 
ernment itself.  Both  the  bliss  of  the  righteous  and 
the  misery  of  the  wicked,  begin  in  this  world,  and 
are  as  truly  enjoyed  and  suffered  in  this,  as  they 
can  be  in  any  world.     Whether   the  bliss   of  the 


GENERAL     CONCLUSION.  233 

one,  or  the  misery  of  the  other,  extends  beyond  this 
life,  must  depend  entirely  upon  the  circumstance, 
whether  they  will  continue  to  sustain  their  respect- 
ive characters  in  that  world.  If  those  who  are  bad 
here^  continue  to  be  bad  there,  they  must  continue 
to  suffer  the  miserable  consequences  of  their  wick- 
edness, which  attached  to  them  here ;  and  if  those 
who  are  good  in  this  world,  continue  to  be  good  in 
the  world  to  come,  they  will  continue  to  enjoy  the 
reward  of  their  goodness  there  as  here.  The  only 
difference  between  the  two  states  will  be,  that  the 
miseries  of  the  bad,  and  the  enjoyments  of  the  good, 
must  be  immensely  greater  in  degree,  in  that  world, 
than  in  this,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case. 
They  are  the  same  in  kind,  though  different  in 
degree. 

Hence  the  whole  controversy  between  the  believer 
in  the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  and  the  Uni- 
yersalist,  turns  upon  the  single  point,  whether  human 
character  is  immutably,  unalterably  and  eternally 
fixed  in  the  world  to  come.  This  is  really  the 
whole  matter  in  controversy,  between  these  two 
classes  of  religionists.  To  make  out  the  "  absolute 
eternity"  of  punishment,  it  must  be  proved,  that 
human  character  is  or  will  become  immutably  fixed ; 
and  all  that  the  application  of  any  particular  terms 
signifying  duration,  to  punishment  can  do,  is  to  af- 
ford a  reflected  argument  in  favor  of  this  idea. 
20* 


234  universalist's  assistant. 

Thus  il  will  be  seen,  that  this  controversy  may 
be  brought  within  a  very  narrow  compass — reduced 
to  a  very  simple  and  intelligible  proposition.  Let 
all  the  efforts  of  the  antagonists  of  Universalism  be 
directed  to  this  single  point,  and  the  matter  would 
be  rendered  more  inteUigible  to  common  minds,  and 
bring  it  more  clearly  and  distinctly  before  them, 
and  place  the  matter  more  entirely  within  their 
grasp.  Will  they  do  this  ?  We  shall  see.  In  the 
mean  time,  I  may  remark,  that  if  this  point  cannot 
be  sustained,  Universalism  must  be  regarded  as 
established  beyond  all  controversy. 


